 |
| Available at Amazon.com |
Sometimes you just get the feeling that a film is going to have a twist simply by checking out the trailer. There is just that lack of something being expressed that makes you realize there’s some hidden or mysterious event that will occur. The trailer seems very intriguing, but also extremely confusing at the same time. The intrigue and confusion causes your interest in the film to grow so now you simply must see it. Kind of sucks though when you start watching the film, stay confused, and then keep watching just because you’re curious where the train wreck is headed.
Diana and Maureen are two high school friends that just don’t seem to go together. Maureen is a good girl who goes to church with her family, does well in school, and has dreams of starting a family. Diana, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. She likes to smoke, drink, defy her mother’s wishes, and pretty much be as much of a slut as possible. Somehow or another, though, they have become the best of friends and would do anything for one another. Almost anything. Their friendship is tested one day when a student shows up in school with a gun and begins shooting everyone he sees. He enters the women’s bathroom and finds them together, but will only shoot one of them. Immaculately brought together, and brutally taken apart.
Fifteen years later, Diana, who survived the encounter in the bathroom that day, is now married with a child, and teaches at a local school. Sadly, she is still haunted by the incidents that happened that fateful day. As time draws closer to the anniversary, things get even tougher for her. Diana’s life begins falling apart. Her daughter is being extremely rebellious in ways that remind Diana of herself as a child. She finds her husband cheating on her with another woman. Her students won’t listen to her. Why must things be so difficult on her now as this horrible date approaches? Why can’t her life continue on the good path it was on? Why is all this happening or better yet, why has anything at all happened?
Yep, the trailer looked great and then the DVD got to my house and come to find out, the trailer was the only good thing about it. There is just way too much wrong with The Life Before Her Eyes. Plot hole after plot hole shows its ugly head just a few minutes in. The little girl playing Diana’s daughter can’t act to save her life. All of the horrible things happening to Diana just get annoying after a while. You’re going to get so frustrated with it all that you won’t care what happens to her any more when you should be feeling sympathetic for her. It is kind of sad because one wonders how so much bad stuff can happen to one person, but then you begin hoping the film will be over just so you don’t have to put up with any more of it. Hell, the only reason I witnessed the ending of the film is because my girlfriend was bored and tired of it, but intrigued as in how it would all pan out. Keeping someone watching until the ending, but still thinking the film sucks is not a success.
Let’s face it: this is not Uma Thurman’s best performance either. After seeing her portrayed so awesomely in both Kill Bill flicks and Pulp Fiction, it’s safe to say that her career won’t be helped by her getting older and playing motherly roles. She just seems so out of place in this role of Diana who is a pathetic, whiny, crying all the time pity-partier. She just bugged me to no end, but she isn’t the only reason The Life Before Her Eyes failed; it was virtually everything. The film is a constant flashback and I mean that literally. Throughout the duration you’ll see a five minute scene from present time and then five minutes from the past constantly alternating back and forth. And that only brings you to a twist ending that is pointless and lackluster.
One last thing I’d like to point out is the extreme similarities to the Columbine shooting that are shown in this film. Michael Patrick, the shooter, saying he is just going to kill everybody in school. A professor laying shot and bleeding to death in the hallway. Dead student bodies spread around classrooms. And perhaps the closest similarity of all is students escaping through windows and being helped to the ground by SWAT team members. I’m not someone that believes people should get upset at the smallest things, but I think the way the “shooting” scenes were done would be insulting or offensive to some people. The filmmakers just kind of get very close to or actually do cross the line in making it seem almost like a recreating of the Columbine massacre from 1999 and it’s kind of in poor taste.
The film is shown in 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and it looks fine. Nothing really stands out as being extraordinary, but there are no problems.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and it also has no real issues. All dialogue can be heard clearly and there is not a single volume problem.
Audio Commentary – Director Vadam Perelman and production designer Maia Javan sit together for the commentary track. Lots of spoilers in this commentary so don’t watch this before checking out the film. Perelman is constantly talking about how the clues and other small things relate to the entire twist. Nothing really interesting, but it is kind of neat at times seeing the very small details pointed out.
Deleted Scenes – Twelve minutes worth of deleted scenes that would have made no different left in or out. This includes a miraculous scene of Diana washing dishes and then dropping a knife (note sarcasm).
Alternate Ending – Ok, this is really pointless because the ending isn’t so much an alternate one more so then just a different short scene here and there in the final fifteen minutes.
Eva Amurri Casting Tape – Three minutes and forty-eight seconds of some script reading. Nothing exciting.
Flower Photo Gallery – Pictures of flowers.
Flower Montage – Pictures of flowers set to music.
Flashback: Behind The Life Before Her Eyes – Big ol’ spoiler alert warning attached to this featurette so don’t watch it before checking out the film. Good God I did not expect this to be as long as it is clocking in at fifty-four minutes and twenty seconds. It is a very run-of-the-mill “making of” featurette that explains the film in broken down segments including the story, script to screen, casting, director, the twist, and everything you can think of. The cast and crew talk about it of course and share their thoughts on all of it.
One thing that caught my interest here was Brett Cullen (Paul McFee) comparing the film to The Sixth Sense in saying that people won’t get all the clues and hints until their second or third viewing. I can tell you that after watching it once, I did not want to watch it again, but still was a bit confused by the ending. Finally it clicked about an hour after viewing it and thought of all the small intricacies thrown in throughout.
Reflections Back & Beyond – People share their near death experiences in this eleven minute and forty second feature.
Trailers – What Just Happened?, Quid Pro Quo, Finding Amanda, and Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
The Life Before Her Eyes had an interesting premise and was executed rather poorly leading up to a twist that you won’t end up caring about. So many small things seem out of place and catch your attention more then the small things you’re supposed to pay attention to in order to understand it all. The commentary truly points out that they tried to include too much for viewers to catch onto instead of focusing on the film itself. It’s obvious that almost every scene has something a viewer should recognize from earlier in the film to connect the two moments. After a while it just gets insane and becomes more of a “seek-and-find” game more then an enjoyable viewing experience. While the special features are plentiful and add a lot of additional information and footage, they just aren’t interesting enough to want to watch. I had really high hopes for this film when the trailer first came out, but it was shattered only after the initial twenty minutes of watching it. Not everyone will feel the way I do, and more then likely some people will really like it so perhaps a rental is at least in order for you. I just ended up being disappointed.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Magnolia Home Entertainment presents The Life Before Her Eyes. Directed by: Vadim Perelman. Starring: Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, Eva Amurri, Sherman Alpert, Gabrielle Brennan, Brett Cullen. Written by: Laura Kasischke (novel) & Emil Stern (screenplay). Running time: 90 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: August 19, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
About Danny Cox
