Review - Kathryn Ryan

   

In Hollywood, when it comes to selecting people for roles, certain actors are placed into character boxes. Michael Cera will always be placed as a nerdy high school student that, despite his lack of true effort, gets the girl of his dreams. Anthony Hopkins portrays, whether as hero or villain, men that seem to have sage-like wisdom and knowledge though half of the time it is an unspoken message, all the while making crazy look cool. Helena Bonham Carter has truly become the character she always seems to be casted as- a crazy, quirky, and gloomy girl that knows how to rock the kooky hairstyle. Now, when it comes to Liam Neeson, his character box is quite positive in nature. He tends to play men that have a broken spirit or an inner flaw, but courage comes out of all of them in each performance which makes him quite a unique actor. Then there is Christina Ricci. With her haunting gaze, ghost-pale complexion, and crow-black hair, every last one of her roles she has played seems like it came straight from a work of Poe himself. In moderation this would be fine, but in After.Life, Ricci got a little old a little quick.

Set in the present, Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci) and her very loving boyfriend Paul (Justin Long) have hit a bit of a rough patch; all of the passion from their relationship is gone and all that is left are constant fights and questions of commitment. One night after a heated argument, Anna drives away during a very heavy storm and her mind is in a haze. She begins to text a friend while driving (tsk tsk!) next thing Anna knows she sees a bright light and then wakes up in a funeral home run by Eliot Deacon (Liam Neeson). He tries to explain to her that she died in a car crash the night before and that she is now dead. The only reason they can talk is because he has a “gift” that enables him to speak to the corpses and help them prepare for their burial. Anna is questioning the validity of his claims and all the while, Paul is trying to uncover the truth of what is happening before he is too late. The film constantly raises the question as to whether Deacon is a kindly, though off kilter, funeral home owner or he is a crazy psychopath with some major mental issues.

First and foremost, before I begin to delve into the world of the acting in this film, I will start with a high note about it. Visually, this movie is very beautiful. With sets that are completely monochromatic and Anna in a sharp ruby red dress, it catches the eye and creates an interesting tale just through colors and camera shots alone. I will give the director props for that, but not much else. The plot, although intriguing and haunting, leaves far too many questions unanswered for an audience member to accept or want. If it did a better job of covering up the plot holes, it really could have pushed this film from getting just a limited release to a wide release. The acting done by both Liam Neeson and Justin Long are superb. Neeson creates a man with such a complex and muddled mentality; it is hard to believe at times it is just a film. Justin has been a very notable actor on my radar since Drag me to Hell, and he has yet to disappoint with his character choices.

 

He captures the audience into believing his heartache is real and that he is a real person. Christina Ricci however, is lifeless. As always. Just a pretty face who knows how to look lifeless. It takes very little effort for her to even portray that basic look because she has done it so many times before with so little variation. The only difference in this movie is that she spends the second half of the film naked. It is a pity to see talent wasted not by a film, but by the actor in it.

After.Life is rated R for nudity, disturbing images, language and brief sexuality. There is a sex scene at the beginning of the movie, and we see Ricci naked or just topless about once every 20 minutes. The language is a bit rough and most of it comes from Ricci. If you have any issues looking at dead people, don’t see this movie. You learn how to…prepare… a body an open casket funeral. For teens over 13, it would be wise for the parent to use their discretion and decide if this is the kind of movie you want them to see, but anyone over 17 will have few problems with the content.

This movie would be good for a person who enjoys an artsy look on all things dark and gloomy, and does not have any problem seeing an emotionless Ricci for 106 minutes (she is SMILING for 1 minute in the movie!) Die hard followers of all things Neeson should view this just for him, but do not think by any means he is portrayed as the most important character.
I give After.Life two out of five embalming needles. Aside from the unanswered questions in the plot, it is sad to see a movie so thoroughly dragged down by one person’s acting. It is too bad Ricci plays a talking corpse so well… well, on the screen and off.