Here (2024) is a nice, yet flawed experiment

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are reversed aged and embrace in the film Here (2024). 

 


Understanding Critic Expectations

I am really confused about what critics want. On the one hand, we say we want original ideas and fresh stories. We want filmmakers to take risks and be willing to fail. Then we have someone like Robert Zemeckis come along with a fresh adaptation and an original idea, and we utterly decimate it. Is this film perfect? Definitely not, but I am really baffled by the one-star ratings. Folks act like he created a Tubi movie. To be clear, I have seen filmmakers rate Tyler Perry higher than this. It feels like the ratings are a punishment for him not being the same type of filmmaker that could produce Cast Away, Forrest Gump, or Back to the Future. I genuinely believe that in years to come, people will realize they were way too harsh on this film.

Positives

I really like the earlier sequences that show the passage of time and bring us into the Young family's home. I also like the connectivity of the vignettes. I appreciate the conflict at the center of the story, which we could view as a metaphor for the human desire for stability and security over our desire to explore and change. This is perhaps best displayed through the Harters (first homeowners), Al and Rose Young, and then Richard and Margaret. I also love the setting and the attention to detail that symbolize the connections and similarities between these tenants. I thought the use of a window seat and third-person fixed point of view was creative.

Negatives

While I did not have a problem keeping up, there were likely too many vignettes for some viewers. The inclusion of the Indigenous couple and the Black couple as the last homeowners was a nice touch showcasing diversity, but it didn't add much to the story. However, I also appreciate that they did not force diversity into this one particular family because many families are homogenous. Also, while I thought the de-aging was an interesting tool, it did not work for me. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright do not look 17 in the film, and they should have used real actors and then used technology to make them look more like Tom and Robin. Additionally, while not completely unrealistic (plenty of couples get/stay together for security), I would have preferred a different ending.

Spoilers coming up...

Margaret should have gone to live with her daughter, and the end scene should have been Vanessa going to collect her dad after he finally sold the house following Margaret's passing. Her dementia felt like a trick to keep them together, but she states that she doesn't want that in her last moments of cognition. Richard could have determined that his life was good, and while Margaret didn't stay, he was proud of the life they made there.

Overall, I enjoyed Here.  It wasn’t a perfect movie, but it was an interesting look at the progression and life of a family.  It was good and nostalgic seeing Tom and Robin together again with Zemeckis at the helm. Sometimes we need reminders that every family experiences love and loss together.  At the end, we are all HERE together.

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