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Good Grief

If "Unforgiven" was Clint Eastwood's ode to the Westerns that made him famous, and "Gran Torino" was his unofficial finale to the "Dirty Harry" oeuvre, what can we infer from "Hereafter", the director's somber, but nonetheless intriguing, meditation on the afterlife? Certainly, Mr. Eastwood (by now a national treasure) is getting on in years. This latest film - not one of his best - feels close to home for sure, but it also feels under-realized - as if we're catching the director in mid-thought.

The story, by Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon", "The Queen"), is told via three characters in three disparate locations. Each has been touched by death in different ways, and each will eventually meet (a la "Babel") during the film's inevitable but unfulfilling denouement.

It all starts with a tsunami which sweeps away vacationing French journalist Marie LeLay (Cécile De France). This bravura opening sequence is told - despite some shaky special effects - with Mr. Eastwood's signature gift for matter-of-factness. You'll find no Michael Bay-esque grandiosity here; the ensuing tidal wave is simply an unstoppable, brutal force of nature. Marie is knocked unconscious and has a near-death experience (white light, silhouetted figures, the works) before being brought back to life, somewhat the worse for wear.

Meanwhile in London, two twin boys, Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren, interchangeably), are coping with their mother's rampant heroin addiction when Jason is suddenly killed in an accident, sending Marcus on a preternatural quest for answers. And in San Francisco, retired psychic George Lonegan (Matt Damon, in a typically fine, understated performance) finds himself dragged back into his old profession against his better judgement - and this guy's the real deal; he can basically see the afterlife.

Each parallel story might have made a fine film in its own right. Mr. Eastwood does a workmanly job of weaving them together and, as is his wont, he composed the film's appropriately haunting score. But with no real antagonist in the film - except, perhaps, doubt - the 129 minute running time starts to drag as we jump from story to story. It would have been more interesting to see a solid 90-minute film around Mr. Damon's character - particularly after a goofily cute flirtation with a fellow student in a cooking class (Bryce Dallas Howard).

In an industry obsessed with sequels - or better yet franchises - it's rare for a film to tackle anything as final as death. Another reason is that it almost never works. Look at "The Lovely Bones" for a recent example, as well as "Fearless" which tackled similar subject matter years ago. "Hereafter" is every bit as ponderous as you'd expect from a film about death and the afterlife. In the hands of this superlative director, it's also very watchable.