"Here" may be unlike any other film you have seen, a celebration of the life moments that can happen in one small spot on this great planet over time.
The movie -- in theaters now -- also is notable for being a reunion of key players from 1994's beloved, Academy Award-winning "Forrest Gump," with stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, and writer Eric Roth together again.
Disappointingly, neither of those highly appealing aspects is reason enough to recommend "Here," which, despite some strengths, feels like a missed opportunity.
Based on Richard McGuire's 2014 graphic novel of the same name -- an extension of his comic strip dating to the end of the 1980s -- "Here" is a nonlinear, revolving series of vignettes.
The film begins in prehistoric times, the story's all-important spot in the future United States seeing large insects and giant dinosaurs. Then come meteors, ice, plant life, indigenous people and, eventually, colonial types, who dig a foundation for a modest house, lay bricks and begin to raise walls.
From there, we spend time with the men, women and children who will come to inhabit the home, located across from a much larger and historically significant house. They include its first occupants, John Harter (Gwilym Lee), who not long after the development of aviation has a passion for flying that terrifies his wife, Pauline (Michelle Dockery); Leo Beekman (David Fynn), an inventor whose work leads to a well-known brand of reclining chairs, and his supportive better half, Stella (Ophelia Lovibond); and a Black family -- Devon Harris (Nicholas Pinnock), wife Helen (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and son Justin (Cache Vanderpuye) -- that weathers the novel coronavirus pandemic in the domicile.
For the majority of its life, however, the house is home to the Young family, starting with its purchase in 1945 by World War II veteran Al (Paul Bettany) and his wife, Rose (Kelly Reilly). Their family will come to include son Richard, portrayed from the time he's a young man by Hanks, with the help of special effects.
One day, Hanks brings home the woman with whom he will build a life in the house, Margaret (Wright), one that will include, for much of the time, his aging parents and a child of their own.
Almost exclusively, Zemeckis and director of photography (and fellow "Gump" alum) Don Burgess leave the camera in one position, the space in the frame changed by production designer Ashley Lamont via elements such as furniture and curtains. Mirrors that sit above a fireplace eventually will be replaced by a flat-screen TV.
As a technical exercise, it's all fairly interesting ... but that's about the best you can say about "Here."
Loosely, "Here" tells a story of a son following, frustratedly, in his father's footsteps and of the stress that time and circumstances, especially those financial in nature, inflicts on couples who love each other.
That's all well and good, but any hope that the film is leading to something even approaching profound is dashed before the credits roll.
2 stars (out of 4)