Here

I really did quite like the concept behind this film. A sort of house-bound version of the "Truman Show" where a residence provides the continuity for the lives and loves of it's occupants over multiple generations. Our perspective comes from only one side of the room, looking out of the window at a grand Colonial mansion that once belonged to a Jefferson somewhere along the line. Right from the construction of this residence, we follow the lives of three distinct families, and the timelines are intertwined to avoid it just becoming a chronology of the place. It's also all interspersed by some native American imagery to remind us that this whole process of being born, breeding and dying is nothing new. The latter part of this film pulls the threads together of the mainstay of the storyline. The family of "Al" (Paul Bettany) and "Rose" (Kelly Reilly) who bring up their family and end up sharing in adulthood with their son "Richard" (Tom Hanks) and his wife "Margaret" (Robin Wright). It's this partnership that proves to the more turbulent as they find themselves trapped by his dead-end job, their dependancy on his parents for a roof over their head and as age overcomes all of these characters, the growing realisation that perhaps life is just passing - or has passed - them by. Robert Zemeckis has tried to construct something different here, and I did like that he didn't just trot a diary according to... The use of visually defined boxes to indicate to us that we are about to change timeline or storyline also, once you get used to it, works quite effectively, as does the use of the soundtrack to use music as a sign of changing attitudes. Sadly, though, the acting isn't really the sum of it's parts and the temptation to sink into the melodramatic seems to prove too much for all concerned. It is funny at times and the observational nature of the presentation can be poignant, too, but the flighty nature of the narrative is almost theatrical in style and doesn't allow us to really get our teeth into any of the characterisations. Wright increasingly underwhelms as an actor these days and here her pairing with te unremarkable Hanks comes across as all a bit shallow as we head a denouement that's rather clumsily telegraphed to us in the final fifteen minutes. It is an intriguing version of lives through a lense, and is certainly worth a watch. It's just a bit one-dimensional.

<em>'Here'</em> is one of the most original movies that I have personally seen, I can't say I've watched one that does anything like this. To tell such a story from (basically) a single camera angle is a brave choice, but it is one that Robert Zemeckis & Co. nail tremendously. I loved it. I would've predicted some slow moments and that the sole vantage point might've gotten repetitive/boring, happily neither of those two things occurred. There are plenty of events that keep it all interesting and the unique angle ensures freshness. Those on the cast are, of course, helpful too. Tom Hanks is as great as always, Robin Wright is also very good. Paul Bettany is, though, the one that stood out most to me, he is excellent at every moment. His character is most attached to all the more serious parts of this, most notably alongside Kelly Reilly's Rose. I saw this at the cinema as part of a double bill with Pablo Larraín's <em>'Maria'</em>; randomly chosen due to the showtimes matching up with my schedule, but what a great four hours or so in front of the big screen it turned out to be. Quality viewing!