Movie Review: Here

 Movie Number 35 of 2024

The Movie: Here

The Cinema: The Sun Cinema, Yarraville

Stars: 3.5

This film had piqued my interest because of what it was doing with AI, more than for the actors or the storyline. In the end I enjoyed it, even if it is a flawed. 

If you read reviews, you'll see that most agree - what director Robert Zemekis has done a good job of this film, especially around the AI features, but the plot and characters are all rather schmatlzy. 

As an AI sceptic, I loved the premise in the movie. One view from a glimpse of Prehistoric America, to the first nations people, to when the settlers came.

Most of the action takes place when the house is built in the early 1900s. We see different people living in the house from the time they bought it, until the time they sold it on. A good percentage of the film is spent on Al (Paul Bettany) and Rose (Kelly Reilly), and their son Richard (Tom Hanks) and his wife Rose (Robin Wright). The CGI is used to age all of the characters both forward and backwards and to great effect. 

What is not so great is the storyline and character development - of which there is little. I was more interested in where the story would take us. Scene changes always happened after some rectangular boxes appeared on the screen.

Technically, this is a great movie. Conceptually, it's sound. But that's about it. 

There is enough going on to keep the synapses working, but high art this is not. 

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