In 1994, director Robert Zemeckis delivered cinema magic with FORREST GUMP, starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as two unlikely lovers who are reconnecting over time and some important historical events. Now, 30 years later, the trio are back together for HERE, another time-spanning story of romance, loss, and change told from one very specific perspective. It’s an experimental film, and one some audiences may find inaccessible, but depending on your own life events it may just hit home in a big way.

The movie opens during the prehistoric era, showing dinosaurs running past the camera, and meteors crashing to the Earth, wiping them out. Frames begin to form on the screen in various places, and we begin to see the same area the camera is fixated on, only changing over time. At one point you’ll see Native Americans hunting and falling in love, the next moment we see a home being built hundreds of years ago, and eventually there’s even time jumps into the very recent present day… while the time period jumps back and forth, the point of view is always the same, the camera never moves for the bulk of the film. The place we’re fixated on ultimately serves as the location for a home that is inhabited by different folks, including a couple living during the time of the influenza epidemic, a couple living in the 1940s hoping to patent a chair you’ve definitely heard of, a couple (played by Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly) living in the 1950s post World War II and raising a family while struggling to find solid income, and ultimately that last couple’s child Richard (Tom Hanks) falling in love with his high school sweetheart Margaret (Robin Wright). Margaret ends up pregnant by surprise, which leads to Richard marrying her young, and the two of them finding themselves raising a family of their own in Richard’s parents’ house. Try as they might to break free and get a place of their own, life keeps them in place amidst moments of happiness and tragedy, all while the audience watches from that same fixed perspective. And while we watch, we continue to jump back and forth in time to see how previous couples (and even a “future” couple) deal with their own moments in this one very specific place.

HERE is definitely not a film everyone will take to, and some may find it confusing or frustrating, as it is very experimental in its execution. It can at times feel odd watching a movie in which the camera never moves, and makes you realize the importance of camera movement when telling a story. In many ways it makes the movie seem almost like a stage play, as we the audience are watching the action unfold from a fixed place, much the way watching a play unfolds. The jumping back and forth in time can also be a bit jarring, especially when we’re particularly fascinated by one particular moment, only to suddenly change to a different couple in a different moment in time… though for the most part it is all oddly somewhat connected.

The film was marketed as movie focused on Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, though some viewers may be surprised to learn Hanks doesn’t show up until after 20 minutes in. The first section of the movie is mainly about Richard’s parents, played by Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly, which remind us of American life in the 1950s and 60s, the good and the bad. As Richard and Margaret get older, so do Richard’s parents, and we watch as they succumb to age and illnesses, putting us in the emotional rollercoaster Richard and Margaret must go through while sharing their home. One of the more interesting aspects of the production is the AI and digital de-aging of Hanks and Wright, which meets with mixed results. At times both actors sell themselves well as young, but I also found it a little distracting as we know what they look like these days, and the film covers such a lengthy passage of time that it’s a lot to take in. Hanks is giving it his all, even physically, and it’s a valiant effort. Even the supporting cast is delivering solid performances in their respective roles, though at times we feel like some of the side stories aren’t given enough room to breathe.

All of the actors here are doing their best, it’s the film itself that sometimes feels disjointed or awkward in its pacing and structure. Some of the story pieces almost seem unnecessary by the end, such as showing us the dinosaurs at the start, or some of the other couples who occupied the house before we get to the main focus of the story. I almost wonder if the film would have worked better if it was only fixated on Richard’s parents and then Richard and Margaret getting older. The other pieces do ultimately connect, but not so much that they feel completely essential to the story. All that said, the ending of the film emotionally wrecked me, but I think that’s because of personal issues I’ve been dealing with in my own life that are similar to what’s playing out on screen. And if you are dealing with or have dealt with similar issues, it will likely have a big impact on you as well.

I admire Robert Zemeckis for what he’s tried to do here, it is an interesting way to deliver a layered story, but I’m not sure it’s a very accessible movie for the average film fan. One thing that is great is Alan Silvestri’s beautiful music score, which is on the level of what he delivered for FORREST GUMP, and helps elevate the film rather nicely. I was also surprised to learn this movie is based on a graphic novel, which I should have known since I’m a hardcore comic book fan, though there’s not much about HERE that will evoke any comic book-like sensibilities. This movie is getting fairly negative reviews, so I might be in the minority when saying I enjoyed it for what it was, but it’s also not a movie I imagine I’ll revisit anytime soon.

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