The Life Before Her Eyes

(2008)

Directed by

Vadim Perelman

Reviewed by Todd Plucknett

Vadim Perelman’s second feature film is The Life Before Her Eyes, a film based on the novel by Laura Kasischke. His first film was House of Sand and Fog, the 2003 Oscar-nominated independent film. The Life Before Her Eyes is a much different style film. However, both are powerful in their own ways.

The film centers on Diana (Uma Thurman), one of the survivors of a tragic school shooting in high school. As the 15^th anniversary of the shooting approaches, Diana cannot sleep or keep her mind off the event and the thought that maybe she could have prevented it or at least saved the life of her best friend Maureen (Eva Amurri). She keeps replaying the day in her head. She sees objects and people that remind her of that time in her life, only furthering her restlessness and guilt. As she is reminded of those days, we see flashbacks of the weeks leading up to the event. Young Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maureen dreamed of having a life away from their boring city. To pass time, Diana experiments with sex and drugs, desperately wanting some sort of alternative. Older Diana’s guilt keeps rising and her seemingly perfect life begins to fall apart when she recalls the strain that was put on her relationship with Maureen leading up to that fateful day.

There is a lot to appreciate here. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. The score is great. The acting is superb. Thurman gives a mesmerizing performance, turning in her best work certainly since ­Kill Bill. Wood is the best and most consistent actress of her generation, and she gives the best performance in this movie, playing a somewhat similar character as her searing role in Thirteen. She is such a talented and original young actress. Amurri also does strong work here, even stealing some scenes from Wood. Those three performances in particular are something very special and enough to seek out this film.

At a few moments short of 90 minutes, the movie goes by rather quickly. It even seemed that it needed to extend certain scenes or even add plotlines to make the film long enough. I don’t understand why they couldn’t have expanded on the relationship with Young Diana and Maureen. The scenes between those two were truly the most exciting, triggered by the excellent chemistry between Wood and Amurri. Some people are not going like this movie, however. They may feel cheated or significantly confused. I can understand that. It is a movie that you really need to let settle in before you formulate an opinion on it. As you look back on it, it will most likely inspire some sort of fondness in you if you figure it out. The realizations that come about during the conclusion of the film are unexpected, haunting, and absolutely satisfying. It is a great film by a director who now has two quality films under his belt. He is a highly talented, and this film just shows his versatility.

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