Reviews of Tom Hanks’ newest film, Herearrived and critics don’t seem to like the film. This is disappointing because Here sees Hanks reunite with Forest Gump collaborators Robert Zemeckis and Robin Wright. Hanks and Wright last shared the screen in 1994 Forest Gumpin which they played love interests Forrest and Jenny. Zemeckis directed Forest Gumpand also teamed up with Hanks in other iconic films, such as Castaway. So with the amount of talent behind and in front of the camera to Hereexpectations were high for the film.
However, several critics were unimpressed with Here. The story of Hanks’ new film is very ambitious, as it takes place entirely on one plot of land and begins in the distant past, before a house is built. From then on, the main story of Here follows several families who live in the same house at different times over the course of a century. Zemeckis co-wrote Here with Flower Moon Assassins screenwriter Eric Roth. In addition to Hanks and Wright, the film also stars Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly.
Here are the reviews that criticize the film’s story and the limitations of the setting
Here it is fully situated in one room
In HereZemeckis sets up the camera to show one room in the house, but that’s about it. Therefore, the film is structured very similarly to a playin which the story told is limited to a confined space. Although this is a unique concept, several reviews have pointed out that the idea is not executed well enough. The Daily Beautiestthe analysis stated that Zemeckis has “little interest in playing with the tension between what is inside and outside his frame”.
Although the reviewer noted that Zemeckis finds some creative ways to show what’s on the other side of the camera, they argue that he still “doesn’t take advantage of the seen/unseen dynamic that his gimmick seems designed to investigate.”
Unfortunately, the analyzes also showed that Here it is story and characters are not that interesting.
Even though limiting the film’s story to just one location isn’t very effective, Here it still could have told a satisfying story if the audience invested in the characters. However, unfortunately, the analyzes also showed that Here it is story and characters are not that interesting. In your review, Variety refers to the four families that inhabit the house as “disappointingly generic”.
Here highlights its aging technology better than the characters
Here De-Ages Tom Hanks and Robin Wright
Since Here highlights the lives of different families living in one house over the course of a century, the characters age dramatically throughout the film. Hanks and Wright are introduced in the film as teenagersbut finish the film as an elderly couple. Hanks, 68, and Wright, 58, can no longer play teenagers convincingly, but instead of casting younger actors, Zemeckis uses de-aging technology to show them inhabiting their homes during their youth.
To achieve this, Zemeckis and the creative team behind the film loaded thousands of archival images of both actors’ faces into an engine to create a “digital makeup” for Hanks and Wright. They then overlaid their “digital makeup” in post-production and also during filming. This is a practice that is becoming increasingly common in Hollywood.
Previously, it was used in acclaimed films such as Martin Scorsese’s The Irishand also for popular franchises like Star Wars. However, the end result is not always convincing and IndieWire notes that “we never fail to know that these actors are three times the age of the characters they play.”
There were high expectations here as a Forrest Gump reunion film
Forrest Gump and Jenny make a memorable cinematic couple
As mentioned, Here had even higher expectations to live up to because it functioned as the reunion film for Hanks, Wright and Zemeckis, all three acclaimed for their work on Forest Gump. Since Hanks and Wright haven’t starred in a movie together in 30 years, longtime fans of Forest Gump were excited to see their on-screen chemistry again. While assessments for Here Although Hanks and Wright play husband and wife convincingly, their story in the film isn’t as intriguing as it was in the 1995 Best Picture winner.
While it may be unfair to compare Here to an iconic film like Forest GumpThat’s inevitable when you consider how excited many were about the reunion of the trio of Hanks, Wright, and Zemeckis. In addition to the love that many still have for Forest Gump, Hanks and Zemeckis also collaborated on Castawayanother iconic and highly successful film. So, based on their track record, it’s only fair for fans to expect the best from this director/actor duo. Unfortunately, Here it just doesn’t seem to be meeting many people’s expectations.
Why the reviews here are so discouraging
In addition to Forrest Gump and Cast Away, Zemeckis also directed all three Back to the Future films.
Although Zemeckis has made many acclaimed films, he is currently in a string of films that have received less than favorable reviews. His last three films, Pinocchio (which also stars Tom Hanks), The witchesand Welcome to Marwenhave Rotten Tomatoes scores of 28%, 50%, and 34%, respectively. There was hope that Here could be a return to form for Zemeckisand could have potentially led to more collaborations between him, Hanks and Wright. Although future collaboration between the Forest Gump trio is not outside the realm of possibilities, Here basically confirms that there wouldn’t be as much enthusiasm for it.
If Zemeckis could have combined his proven skill in crafting intriguing stories filled with rich, complex characters with a creative use of technology to tell a story that spans a century, Here could have been a great cinematic achievement. However, so far, all reviews seem to agree that Here’s an ambitious film that misses the mark and ends up being underwhelming and forgettable.
Sources: The Daily Beast, Variety, IndieWire