01.27.08
Before and After
I look at this poster and think “Yep, that’s about right.” Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson looming over an introspective Ed Furlong is pretty much what Before and After amounts to. Which isn’t to say that Furlong doesn’t hold his own against those two thespianic behemoths, because he does, but he barely speaks for the first hour of the movie.
Jacob (Furlong) runs away from home and then it turns out his girlfriend is dead from a car jack to the head (um, yeah, gross) so his parents, Carolyn (Streep) and Ben (Neeson) have to figure out what the fuck to do. Then Ben finds some evidence in their car and destroys it, Jacob (hm, biblical name…and his sister (Julia Weldon) goes by ‘Jude’ - she’s a little girl and has a running narration which is passable at best) turns up and the rest of the movie is about moral relativity and if it’s OK to lie since he’s sort of technically innocent and all of that. Also, Alfred Molina looks so so skeezy with a moustache, which I guess means he looks like a defense attorney…one you might find on the front of a phone book (Accidentes!).
The movie isn’t bad, per se, but there is a definite Lifetime/Hallmark Channel kind of feel to it which I think it brought about by snowy Massachussetts panoramas, a supercheesy score, mediocre and obvious direction and pretty banal dialogue. Oh, maybe it is bad, actually. I’m remiss to say “Before and After is a bad movie” though, because I do (always) like Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep and the core of the story is really interesting, you know in a “What would I do” kind of way. But for a before/after in a marriage when a son is involved in some tragedy story I think that In the Bedroom is a better bet.