Cinema Mishmash

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The Life Before Her Eyes

May 4th, 2009 · No Comments

Proving that even interesting, talented actors like Uma Thurman can choose dogs for projects, The Life Before Her Eyes is built upon a narrative conceit that is so self-congratulatory in its own cleverness that the only thing worse that not figuring it out from the beginning (most people will have it at least 75% sorted by the first big scene) is figuring it out from the beginning and realizing that indeed, 90 minutes later, the filmmakers did nothing provocative or interesting with their gotcha concept. Out of a disproportionate respect for the filmmakers, and in case you choose to subject yourself to this frustration, I will only say that the audience knows right away that lifebeforehereyesThurman’s character’s younger self (played by the go-to bad girl, Evan Rachel Wood) is a high schooler on the day that a fellow student goes on a shooting rampage. The rest of the strained narrative innovation is all in the title.And while the idea of a life would seem to provide the filmmakers an opportunity to, say, examine the life of the Thurman/Wood character, there is a remarkable consistency throughout the film to remain on the surface. To add insult in injury, the DVD of the film contains an extra feature entitled “alternate ending.” Great, I thought, let’s see what kind of risks they decided not to take. However, the sequence is merely a re-edited version of the chosen ending which does not — and I say this with the anger of having lost another 10 minutes of my life — change the story in any way. In fact, the “alternate ending” fails even to provoke anything stimulating from those, like myself, who appreciate the art of editing. I’d be willing to call the film itself a huge misfire, but for failing to comprehend the meaning of “alternate ending,” those responsible should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Tags: Capsule · Drama · Horror

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