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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 15th
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.
Rating:
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