I'm thinking that the criteria of evaluating any work must be relevant to the context of the work. When I learned that Here is a 1-hour 40-minutes film shot from one static angle and one static lens, my first thought was "Theater", with the audience stuck in the auditorium in front of the stage. So, my first question was "why?" Obviously, it would be pointless for the Cinema to emulate the Theater, technically, so it must be something else. Not the "Theater" as in "such stuff as dreams are made of", but the "Stage" as in "the world is a stage".
Watching Here from that angle of context I was not expecting literature in the dialog. I was expecting the real world, flaws an'all kinds of imperfections, the real world, to be set right there in front of me, for me to observe. In that respect, Here delivered and then some.
The gang was all there: Zemeckis, Wright, Hanks and Silvestri, flanked by Bettany and Reilly. The CGI ageing and de-ageing of the actors was incredible and the music beautiful. If there was a message it was no more, or less than that our little life is rounded with a sleep while we, as actors, revel like spirits preparing to melt into thin air.
Both my wife and I loved this movie; we thought it was incredible. We must apologize for our impudence to all the wise folk who are trashing it. What do we know... Still, if one were to set one's compass to appropriate expectations in the context of this brilliant idea Zemeckis had, I don't see how Here can fail to please. It was real people, on that stage. Just like us.
Watching Here from that angle of context I was not expecting literature in the dialog. I was expecting the real world, flaws an'all kinds of imperfections, the real world, to be set right there in front of me, for me to observe. In that respect, Here delivered and then some.
The gang was all there: Zemeckis, Wright, Hanks and Silvestri, flanked by Bettany and Reilly. The CGI ageing and de-ageing of the actors was incredible and the music beautiful. If there was a message it was no more, or less than that our little life is rounded with a sleep while we, as actors, revel like spirits preparing to melt into thin air.
Both my wife and I loved this movie; we thought it was incredible. We must apologize for our impudence to all the wise folk who are trashing it. What do we know... Still, if one were to set one's compass to appropriate expectations in the context of this brilliant idea Zemeckis had, I don't see how Here can fail to please. It was real people, on that stage. Just like us.