November 2, 2024
by Carla Hay
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Culture Representation: Taking place in Philadelphia from 1503 to 2022, the dramatic film “Here” (based on the graphic novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few Native Americans and African Americans) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: The movie’s story shows what happens on a section of land through various centuries, including the conflicts and challenges of families who lived in a house that was built on the land in 1907.
Culture Audience: “Here” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and don’t mind experimental movies that are dull and disjointed.
“Here” is an overinflated bore that should have been a brief visual arts installation instead of a feature-length movie. The story is too fragmented for character development. The visual effects make real people look like video game characters. “Here” has a much-hyped reunion of the director and the two main stars of the Oscar-winning 1994 blockbuster “Forrest Gump” for an entirely different story, but this reunion in “Here” fizzles instead of sizzles. “Here” had its world premiere at the 2024 edition of AFI Fest.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis (who co-wrote the “Here” screenplay with “Forrest Gump” screenwriter Eric Roth), “Here” is adapted from Richard McGuire’s 2014 graphic novel of the same name. “Forrest Gump” co-stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, who played a couple with a troubled relationship in “Forrest Gump,” also portray a couple with a troubled relationship in “Here.” The story concept of “Here” is simple, but it’s difficult to make a meaningful movie out of it. That’s because the story structure (which takes place over multiple centuries) is constructed as visual snippets of the lives of people who occupied a particular section of land in what would become the U.S. city of Philadelphia.
“Here” begins with eye-rolling pretentiousness by showing this section of land during an era when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Dinosaurs are seen galloping and charging through this land. During this brief part of “Here,” people might be wondering, “What is this? A dinosaur movie?” A montage then shows changing seasons and how the land evolved over the next centuries.
And then, the movie’s story officially begins in 1503, when an oak tree sapling begins to grow. The movie later shows that the oak tree was cut down in 1899. In 1907, a Cape Cod-styled house was built where the oak tree used to be.
Some people who hear about this movie might have the wrong impression that “Here” only shows the interior of a house’s family living room throughout various decades. That’s only partially true. Although the majority of “Here” consists of the interior living room scenes, the movie has many scenes that take place outdoors, before this house was built in 1907. These pre-1907 outdoor scenes are ultimately unnecessary and distracting.
These pre-1907 scenes take place in the section of land when it was an undeveloped wooded area. In 1609 and 1610, an unnamed man (played by Joel Oulette) and an unnamed woman (played by Dannie McCallum), who are both Native American, become a couple and have a baby. Their “courtship” consists of the man giving the woman a handmade necklace. That is all you will learn about this couple in this dreadfully shallow movie.
The couple is only shown hanging out in this wooded area. You don’t get to see where they live for shelter. You don’t get to see their personalities. You don’t get to see how they raise their child. You don’t get to see anything about their tribe or community. And you don’t even get to see them talk, because the “Here” filmmakers decided that the Native American characters needed to be completely mute in this movie.
Depriving these Native American characters of names and dialogue just reeks of filmmaker condescension, as if just showing these Native Americans in a few short-lived moments is enough to fulfill diversity requirements. It’s an appallingly tone-deaf approach to diversity. And it’s an example of how underrepresented people are often presented as “inferior” or “less than” the demographics who get the most screen time and dialogue in the average Hollywood studio movie.
“Here” also has intermittent scenes taking place in the 1700s to show portions of the life of Benjamin Franklin (played by Keith Bartlett), his wife Elizabeth Franklin (played by Leslie Zemeckis), their son William Franklin (played by Daniel Betts) and William’s son Billy Franklin (played by Alfie Todd). “Here” isn’t a biopic of the Benjamin Franklin family, so these scenes look jarringly out-of-place, especially since “Here” does a lot of non-chronological timeline jumping.
One minute, there could be a scene taking place in the house in the 20th century. The next minute, there could be a scene taking place in the wooded area before the house was built. There are superficial references to the Revolutionary War in the Benjamin Franklin family scenes. You will not be getting any history lessons from watching this movie.
In “Here,” Hanks and Wright portray a longtime married couple named Richard “Ricky” Young and Margaret Young. Most people who want to watch “Here” for the scenes with Hanks and Wright will be disappointed to see that these two stars are only in about half of the movie. The other scenes are for the characters who are in various timelines. Some of these other characters are family members of Richard and Margaret, while most of the other characters do not know the Young family at all.
Here are the characters who live in this house at various times:
Married couple John Harter (played by Gwilym Lee) and Pauline Harter (played by Michelle Dockery) are the house’s first residents in 1907. John really wants the house and persuades a reluctant Pauline that they should buy the house. John is enthusiastic about being a private airplane pilot in his spare time, so he later mortgages the house to buy a small airplane. John’s airplane pilot activities cause tension in the marriage because Pauline thinks it’s a dangerous hobby. Pauline is particularly upset when she finds out that John took their daughter (born in 1911) on the plane with him for a short ride.
Leo Beekman (played by David Fynn) and Stella Beekman (played by Ophelia Lovibond) are a free-spirited, childless married couple who live in the house from 1925 to 1944. The scenes with the Beekmans are competently acted but have no real emotional connection to the rest of the movie. All you will learn about this couple is that they have a fixation on a reclining, swiveling chair that they call a “relaxy boy chair,” and at one point in time Leo took partially nude photos of Stella to make some extra money.
Al Young (played by Paul Bettany) and his pregnant wife Rose Young (played by Kelly Reilly) move into the house in 1945. At the time, Al is 22 years old and a World War II veteran. It’s later shown that Al has undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and he abuses alcohol as a way to cope with his mental illness. Al has a moody personality that becomes volatile when he’s drunk. Rose is a dutiful and passive wife who has to cope with Al’s unpredictable mood swings.
Al, who grew up during the Great Depression, is constantly worried about money, which is why he took a stable job as a corporate salesperson. Their first child Richard, nicknamed Ricky, is born shortly after they move into the house in 1945. Al and Rose eventually have two other children: Elizabeth (born in 1950) and Jimmy (born in 1952). When Richard is about 16 years old, Al loses his job and has a period of unemployment, which causes turmoil in the marriage of Al and Rose.
Various performers depict the children of Al and Rose, at various stages of the children’s lives. The role of underage Richard is portrayed by Ellis Grunsell, Teddy Russell, Finn Guegan and Callum Macreadie. Lauren McQueen has the role of young adult Elizabeth, while Grace Lyra, Jemima Macintyre, Billie Gadsdon and Beau Gadsdon portray Elizabeth as an underage child. Harry Marcus has the role of young adult Jimmy, while Diego Scott, Logan Challis and Albie Salter portray Jimmy as an underage child.
Richard is very artistic and shows from a young age that he has a talent for drawing and painting. He especially likes to make portraits of his loved ones. Richard wants to be a graphic designer, but Al discourages this career and tells Richard that Richard should choose a profession that has more financial stability and requires wearing a suit in an office.
At 18 years old, Richard (played by Hanks) and his 17-year-old girlfriend Margaret (played by Wright) are in love with each other. The first time that Richard brings Margaret to his house to meet his family, she makes a good impression. Rose tells Margaret that Rose regrets giving up a career as a bookkeeper to become a homemaker. Rose advises Margaret to not make the same mistake and to pursue any career path that Margaret wants to have.
One night, when Richard and Margaret are alone in the living room, they have sex on the living room couch. She gets pregnant from this encounter. Richard and Margaret then have a quickie wedding in the living room in April 1964. In case viewers don’t know it’s 1964 in this scene, the movie makes a point of showing that during the wedding ceremony, the TV in the living room is tuned in to the Beatles performing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
In September 1964, Richard and Margaret’s first and only child Vanessa is born. Richard puts aside his dream to become a graphic designer and takes a job as a life insurance salesman to support his family, as they continue to live in this house that is owned by Al and Rose. Vanessa as a child is portrayed by Albie Mander, Eloise Ferreira, Eliza Daley, Elodie Crapper and Faith Delaney. Vanessa as a young adult is portrayed by Zsa Zsa Zemeckis.
Richard and Margaret are loving and devoted parents to Vanessa, but trouble is brewing in the marriage, beginning in the marriage’s early years. Richard keeps postponing plans for him and Margaret to get their own home because he says they can’t afford it. Margaret, who is a homemaker, offers to get a part-time job to help with the expenses, but Richard wants to be the only income earner for their family. Adding to the marital strain, someone in the Young family has a major health crisis in 1979.
While all of these issues are going on in the Young family, “Here” abruptly cuts in and out to scenes that happen before and after the Young family members are living in that house. It’s later revealed that someone in the Young family sold the house in 2005, but Richard and Margaret go back to visit the house in 2022, when the house is up for sale again. This visit is not spoiler information because it’s in the trailer for “Here.”
In 2015, a family of three move into the house: Devon Harris (played by Nicholas Pinnock); his wife Helen Harris (played by Nikki Amuka-Bird); and their teenage son Justin Harris (played by Cache Vanderpuye), who is a high school student. The Harris family has a housekeeper named Raquel (played by Anya Marco-Harris), who gets COVID-19 in November 2020. Don’t expect to learn much more about this family.
Just like in the scenes with the Native Americans, “Here” clumsily handles the scenes with characters who aren’t white. The Harris family scenes have a racially condescending tone to them because the most memorable scenes with the Harris family have to do with pointing out that this family is African American. When the Harris family first moves into the house, Devon comments on how this house probably used to be owned years ago by people who never thought a black family would live there. Later, “Here” has a scene where Justin gets a family talk about how to deal with racist police officers.
“Here” is so enamored with its concept of “scenes (mostly) from a living room,” this ultimately flat and listless movie fails to explore deeper issues and refuses to answer inevitable questions. One of the biggest unanswered questions is: Why is married Richard so stubborn about living with his parents when he knows it makes his wife unhappy?
Richard took a job as a life insurance salesperson so that he could support his family, but obviously the job doesn’t pay enough for him to feel financially independent. It’s not as if Richard and Margaret have several children to financially support. They only have one child. This isn’t a situation where Richard and Margaret stayed in his parents’ house for a few years after their marriage. They stayed for several years.
After a while, it just doesn’t ring true that Richard (who lives rent-free in his parents’ house) isn’t making enough money to save for a down payment and mortgage on a small house for his family of three. Richard doesn’t have any addiction or spending problems that would explain why he keeps using the excuse that he can’t afford to buy a home of his own. By having Richard and Margaret “stuck” in the house for more years than what Margaret wants, it looks like a very contrived reason for the couple’s marital strife.
And speaking of things that look phony, the de-aging visual effects in “Here” are not entirely convincing, especially in scenes with Hanks, Wright and Bettany portraying characters who are supposed to be younger than 25. The faces don’t look natural. And neither do many of the body movements.
The best aspects of “Here” have to do with the movie’s production design, which looks meticulously accurate for each era that is depicted. There are some scenes where the background of the living room is clearly not real but is the creation of computer-generated imagery (CGI), making it obvious that “Here” blurs the lines between real production design and CGI design. The movie’s costume design is quite notable. However, production design and costume design are not enough to make a good movie.
“Here” undoubtedly has a very talented cast, but they are restricted by having characters with personalities that lack depth and have scenes that are cut too short and edited in an off-putting way. If “Here” had omitted everything that happened before the house was built and just focused on the two most interesting families who lived in the house, then “Here” might have been a meaningful film. As it stands, “Here” is a fairly ambitious experiment that is a failed experiment because of muddled storytelling that is in service of soulless visual effects.
TriStar Pictures released “Here” in U.S. cinemas on November 1, 2024.
