I look forward to whatever Robert Zemeckis does next, no matter how disappointing his last few films have actually been.
His latest, titled “Here,” stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Paul Bettany and, much like everything he does these days, it’s steeped in the latest technological breakthrough. A test screening reaction is hinting that it’s actually a very strong film:
It’s a pretty ambitious story, just one single perspective with fade ins/fade outs to change the time into the future or past and all about a single space of a living room in one house. Tom hanks and Robin Wright are de-aged (surprisingly flawless for something still in production) and Hanks is as good and reliable as always. Zemeckis gives all the heavy and emotional moments to Wright here and she delivers a fantastic performance. Paul Bethany and Kelly Reilly are also really good and both can totally steal a supporting actor nom. This feels like a Best Picture contender for sure and maybe even script, it feels like a spiritual cousin to “Forrest Gump” with all the hopping through time and recounting important historical events of everyone who lives through this space and it’s definitely in the same home of films that Hanks used to make in the 90’s and stuff like Big Fish and Life of Pi; a big visual marvel.
“Here” is based on Richard McGuire’s graphic novel, and tells the story of people in a single room over a long period of time. Eric Roth (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) has adapted the groundbreaking novel for the screen.
In “Here,” Zemeckis is, again, attempting to be at the forefront of bleeding-edge technology as the film aims to use deepfake VFX to de-age actors with the help of effects studio Metaphysic.
The technology will use “high-resolution photorealistic faceswaps and de-aging effects on top of actors’ performances live and in real-time without the need for further compositing or VFX work.”
This will be a reunion of sorts for Zemeckis, Hanks and Roth who haven’t worked on movie together in almost 30 years — that one was a little film called “Forrest Gump.”
I used to like the films that Zemeckis directed, he was on a hot streak between 1980-2000 — “Used Cars,” “Romancing the Stone,” “Back to the Future,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Forrest Gump,” “Cast Away,” “Contact.” Hell, I even went along with the schlock horror of “What Lies Beneath.”
However, these last 20 some odd years have been more hit and miss for Zemeckis. There have been some well-received films (“Flight,” “The Walk,” Allied”) but there’s also been a lot of duds (“Welcome to Marwen,” “The Polar Express,” “Beowulf,” “Pinocchio,” “The Witches,” “A Christmas Carol”).
Production on the film began in February of 2023 and it is being test-screened for an audience next Tuesday, which means it must be in the can, or close to it.
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