Robert Zemeckis is a filmmaker best known for transporting viewers into the past. He is most well-known for the “Back to the Future” franchise as well as the 1991 American classic, “Forrest Gump.” In all of his films he is experimenting with technology, whether it was inserting Tom Hanks’ Forrest into old footage of world leaders in “Forrest Gump,” or having multiple feature-length films using early motion-capture technology like “The Polar Express.” In Zemeckis’s new film “Here,” this experimentation continues.
In “Here,” the director teams back up with writer Eric Roth, actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, and composer Alan Silvestri – all of whom worked on “Forrest Gump” – in order to tell another story spanning a long period of time. Unlike “Forrest Gump,” which only spans the 20th century, “Here” spans the entire history on Earth focusing on a particular home with revolving characters. Everything – from dinosaurs, to the indigenous tribe living on this land, to the first people who built a house in this spot, to the inventor of the sofa chair, the La-Z-Boy, – is covered by the film.
The movie employs computer generated graphics to de-age both Hanks and Wright for them to play teenagers, as it tells their entire story from when they met to the end of their lives. Zemeckis’s experimentation pushes the limits of the kind of pop-culture film language seen in his most popular movies in order to tell a non-linear story about history, family and humanity.
Since the movie takes place in one spot, the camera remains stationary for the entire film. Whether the setting is during the time of the dinosaurs, or all the way to when a family moves in after the Youngs, the camera remains still. Every scene is captured in one shot, never cutting to different angles. Characters move throughout the space of the frame, from the foreground, to the background, to way off in the distance.
The film tells its story in a non-linear approach by jumping from one scene of Hanks as a teenager to another of the La-Z-Boy inventor to the indigenous tribe all in the span of a few minutes. Scenes are contrasted with one another based on the ideas presented in timelines. For example, one character may remark about a loved one and then the film will cut to a parallel where another family talks about their loved one.
The narrative may be confusing at first, combined with the way the film is shot, but it’s easy to get immersed if viewers are willing to accept the film’s intention. However, this choice of direction is fundamentally why the film is failing.
Aside from depicting such a massive span of time in a dramatic way, the film’s writing and acting are not the kind typically associated with modern filmmaking. Most of the time, the characters in the film are portrayed with classic Hollywood acting. Diverging from the subtle emotional delivery that is highly celebrated today – especially on TikTok – the actors in the film opt for big emotions and big physical gestures. Hanks and Wright do an incredible job alongside actors like Paul Bettany and Leslie Zemeckis in carrying this melodrama. It’s not entirely unrealistic, but it can be understood why this is not resonating with audiences as much.
The dialogue also plays into this. The characters are dramatic and wear their hearts on their sleeves. There is no long build up or hidden subtextual meaning to the lines the characters say. Instead, everybody says what’s on their mind. The alcoholic World War II veteran lashes out at his grandchild. The mother who never followed her dreams talks about regretting not living her life more adventurously at her 50th birthday party. The list goes on and on.
Though this movie may be underscored with classic dramatic film compositions, some of the moments in it are very unglamorous, showing the private lives of all of these families, warts and all.
All great movies prioritize their locations and “Here” is no different. While the camera remains stagnant throughout the film, the evolution of the singular location over time is what draws in the audience. From the slavery depicted in the scenes during the 1800s, to the Black family explaining to their son what to do when pulled over by a cop, the movie does not shy away from showing these aspects of America as well.
There is opportunity for criticism in these scenes, as well as those of the Indigenous tribe, because the film certainly takes risks in trying to be the sweeping epic it intends to be through covering many sociological topics. But, these flaws do not hinder the film’s message.
It may seem like the movie is a slow slog to get through, but that could not be further from the case. By jumping between these storylines, it never gets boring. There are so many popular music queues, from The Beatles’ “All My Loving” to 80s hits. The scenes with the inventor of the La-Z-Boy, as well as a section depicting a family in the turn from the 19th to 20th century as airplanes are invented, are so much fun to watch. No matter how tense a scene is, there is always a moment to release with some humor!
Since the film is based on a graphic novel, there are comic-book-esque panels that are collaged on the frame in order to show multiple moments at once. But it’s failing at the box office against another comic-book property. Although the film had a budget of almost $50 million, it’s only made back a fraction of that while trying to compete with “Venom 3.” And the poor response from critics on sites like Rotten Tomatoes, which garners a 36% rotten score, are discouraging audiences even more.
The poor response is a shame. With the state of the film industry right now, and with people pleading for more original movies to be made, it can be discouraging to see audience and critic dismissal of an original film by a successful director with well-known actors. This raises questions as to what direction the industry is heading towards.
Verdict: For curious viewers, it may be worth it to check out “Here.” In all of its over-sentimentality, “Here” is a heartwarming experience that will make viewers reflect on life, family, relationships and the history of the U.S.
