Last Updated on November 1, 2024 by Stephinie Heitman
Here is a 2024 Comedy Drama Movie directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth, Robert Zemeckis, and Richard McGuire. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kelly Reilly, and Robin Wright and was released on November 1, 2024. It has a runtime of 1 hour 44 minutes.
Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis, who captured the popular imagination with ‘Back to the Future’, ‘Forrest Gump’, and other classics is back with Here, a new film that seeks to tell the story of life and its possibilities within a single space over thousands of years. This time, he is aiming to translate the aesthetics of Richard McGuire’s 2014 book into a new movie.
They are all filmed in a single room in America and there is no shift in perspective in the film except one final shot. The whole space has a history and lots of significant events from prehistoric times to the twentieth century, so the space itself almost becomes a character. However, what results from the endless work on the magnificent stunts and camera movement is that the story becomes slow and lifeless under Zemeckis.
The story centers on the principal location in the 20th-century family’s two-story house in which Al Young (Paul Bettany) and his wife Rose Young (Kelly Reilly) live. At last, their son Richard (Tom Hanks) and his wife Margaret (Robin Wright) take over the house and personalize it. The house serves as the background for typical family moments: cuddles, arguments, smiles and tears, fun and sorrow, vacations and break-ups. The film seems to be trying to deliver the message that one can squeeze a lifetime of experiences and feelings into a single location. However, even with all these dramatic phenomena, Here remains rather devoid of any real-life referent; its elements appear deliberately arranged.
To relay this message, Zemeckis employs various strategies, like dividing the screen into small boxes that depict different moments. At times, audiences are treated to a glimpse of T-Rexes running around prehistoric America, a young Native American couple a moment of intimacy, Ben Franklin’s son struggling to see eye to eye with his father. These moments are made to focus on the history and complexity of life in that single place. The concept of the house capturing all these moments is quite intriguing, however in the scenes that Zemeckis presents, they look more like exaggerated episodes from a history book. While the movie could have offered a deep insight into the lives of these characters, the director jumps from one era to another and everything looks so superficial and predictable.
Throughout Here, Zemeckis shows moments that people might expect in a “typical” American family story: infidelity, drinking problems, missed opportunities, and sometimes even the longing for the good old days. Well, there is a Black family who have been living in the house after the Youngs, who had some moments based on true stories of African Americans in the USA. Zemeckis sought to show everything that may happen in a family life, however it is quite unconvincing and outrageous. For instance, the character development is not very impressive, which gives the impression that the characters are not well-developed. In a way, it seems as if the actors are not real people but mere mannequins who are performing rehearsed actions.
In my opinion, the most alarming part of Here is the excessive usage of CGI especially to de-age Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. Unfortunately, they do not appear like realistic characters, rather they look artificial and this removes the ability for audience members to relate. The most significant issue is that Hanks, Wright, and the others, do their best to give the characters a human touch, but the digital makeup is unreal.
But in the later stages of the film, as the movie progresses into yet another predictable ending of people leaving the house, Zemeckis attempts to raise some important concerns such as a war veteran feeling neglected or a black family imparting advice to their son on how to behave during a traffic stop. However, even these scenes fail to provide the emotional impact the story demands.
It is worth noting that nothing of this sentimental value is portrayed in Here until the very end of the movie. While it is pleasant to witness that Zemeckis can do a heavy dramatic scene too, it is not enough to revive the film. The viewers can hear all the hollow effects and fake laughs at the alleged life moments, so her words at the end, saying she will not miss the house at all, would make a lot of sense. Instead, Here is a movie that intends to be majestic and profound but in the end is simply a film that makes one indifferent to the country and its inhabitants.
Here 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
Here is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for thematic material, some suggestive material, brief strong language and smoking.
Violence and Gore: There are several scenes in the film that are connected with violence, although most of these scenes are mild and not very descriptive.
Some scenes portray a war veteran who sometimes thinks and contemplates psychological issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. While these scenes are not necessarily violent per se or overtly gory, they can be dramatic or disturbing to the young audience.
There is a depiction of history like an ensemble cast in scenes of confrontations between characters from different periods, including some family business, conflict, and aggression, which are, however, quite metaphoric, so a child should not find them very disturbing.
Alcohol, Drugs, and Smoking: Another aspect of addiction is occasionally represented when some characters are depicted to be taking alcohol occasionally, while one member of a family is hinted to have had a problem with alcohol all the years that the story takes place. This portrayal can be seen as a reference to typical family problems, but this aspect does not advertise substance use.
Some scenes are as people smoke as they perhaps did in some eras including some mid-twentieth-century American settings. These scenes are historically authentic, but viewers can discuss smoking and its effects during the periods depicted in the series.
Sexual Content and Nudity: There’s no sexual scene in the movie, however, there is a scene depicting the relationship of a Native American couple and some elements of sexuality are present but nakedness is not.
There is an implication of infidelity of family members, although this is not depicted in detail and instead is presented more in the form of a problem that causes tension as well as remorse.
Language: There is a mild use of abusive language in the course of the film in the form of words that express frustration or anger. There is no direct abusive language but certain lexical features depict linguistic changes across historical eras which have been seen in writings.
Negatively it may be said that there might be times during a family disagreement when there might be some names being called but it does not include obscenities or abusive language.
