Hereafter

Well, we went to go see the new movie staring Matt Damon called Hearafter. Very unique concept for a movie plot, however the uniqueness is wore off easily with the age old motif: Life After Death. It's cool in a sense that Matt Damon has the ability to legitimately connect with his fellow man on a level that allows him to communicate with past and present deceased loved ones. It is not so cool on a level where Matt Damon cannot lead a normal life because of this. The character could have been better. . . In one scene, he is just fresh out of a cooking class and is very interested emotionally / physically in his cooking partner. They proceed to flirt and mosey on back to his apartment to cook a meal for themselves in a romantic setting. Without giving it away, the encounter is cut short because of an emotional pain that was brought to light by the female persisting a 'reading' from Matt Damon after learning what his abilities are. Small cut scene and a focus on Matt eating alone and then showing exaggerated dismay only to be emphasized by him throwing his plate in the sink with a sincerely faked toss....and he is alone again. No more cooking partner. Cliche emotional pain that creates a void / rift in protagonists life. We have seen this type of isolation tactic to add emotional depth to characters waaaaaaaaaaay too many times. 'Luke, I AM your father....' It just didn't fit. I was expecting Jason Bourne to grudgingly back hand the cooking instructor with a round-house sweep to finish off the cooking maestro to exemplify his 'emotional pain'. I dunno. Maybe because I am a guy and think action flicks are cool and bad-assery is THE solution to emotional strife. Yes. The formula is simple: Guy likes girl, girl likes guy, obstacle in way of guy and girl. Girl leaves, guy gets mad. Guy pulls out nun-chukas, halberds and pole-swords and about a pound of C4 with a fifth of Tequila and a wedge of lime. Guy single handedly renovates kitchen in less then ten minutes. Guy feels better. Audience gratified by senseless violence and the destruction of 'The Good China' while our protagonist humorously bumbles around in an alcoholic haze nearly cutting himself on a pole-sword. Yea. That works waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better! The only thing cooler would be if light sabers were real and Tequila didn't give you one hell of a hangover.