Warner Brothers

PG 13 126 min

So this one comes with some high expectations. Oh I don’t mean Matt Damon who has yet to really impress me with a role, but the guys at the helm.

As a director, Clint Eastwood rarely fails to deliver and Producer Steven Spielberg is no rookie.

Even the premise held interest featuring three people whose lives entwine around the idea of an actual afterlife.

Who among us hasn’t spent some hours puzzling over what might be on the other side of the mortal plane?

I usually find that three-way storyline interesting as well. We have George (Damon) an embittered and lonely psychic who has given up the craft. He feels the gift is a curse and wants no part of knowing or revealing anyone’s spiritual secrets.

There is Marie (Cecile de France) a French Journalist who has had a near (or beyond) death experience.

After her glimpse of the other side she becomes less intense about her career as an investigator. She wants to share her knowledge of, well, the hereafter.

There’s a little boy in England (Frankie McLaren in a dual role) whose twin brother, closer than even most twins, is struck down by a random accident. He’s committed to finding his brother on the other side, being disappointed over and over by the many charlatans who promise spirit contact.

Actually the biggest problem here is that none of these stories move along at any great speed nor are any all that interesting.

The ending should be fairly clear once you realize that these three are on a course to cross paths. It’s a pleasant enough way to end the rather long and slow film but there isn’t any earth-shaking climax. I think you’ll be expecting more and more never comes to pass.

C+

WSS

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