Steve?

A psychic can retire?

Who knew....As a child of the manse, you're awfully critical of the God factor.

Haven't seen the movie...but it can't possibly be any worse than that Julia Roberts thing - 'Eat, Pray, Love' can it?

And, y'know, I think you have been dumping on Clint wayyy too much lately...as a re-formed drugstore cowboy he's doing just fine and a hell of a lot better than most hollywoood types.

And, as you yourself (almost) acknowledge, amongst the newly-wed and the nearly-dead, there is a lot of 'hope' still out there.

Maybe that's kind of a 'truth' too!

Clint bashing?

G West--It's true that a more vitriolic review--this one included--usually indicates some personal buttons have been pushed. In this case, there are two. One is that I seem to care more than most about what I consider the misuse of cinema's incredible power. I get very ticked by easy fables like this that do nothing but dish out comforting lies, or others that disseminate misinformation about historical events. The typical response is, "It's only a movie," but I think movies like this can truly be pernicious. The trouble with Hereafter is that no worthwhile larger point is being made. It's just an empty feel-good fairy tale.

And the other button being pushed is indeed the big red Clint one. When a movie like Million Dollar Baby wins Best Picture I admit to becoming somewhat unhinged. It may affect my opinions when I find what I consider to be similar flaws in later Clint efforts.

And badwalrus, thanks for the tips. In future I will study other reviews and make sure my views conform with theirs. Let's see--it's control + C for "copy" and control + V for "paste," right?

Steve

Umm! Thanks for that, I guess! Although I think you're mostly ignoring the central point - y'know the one about 'hope'.

As for getting upset about what the 'academy' chooses to go thumbs up on every year!

You've got to be kidding.

I'll take a look at the movie and get back to you. My wife says I'm the world's severest critic - but, for the life of me, I can't get overwrought about Clint Eastwood's oeuvre.

He's not exactly in the 'auteur' class - but as a target for journalistic ire he's ought not be your biggest bull's eye - and yet, over time, seems to me you're going for HIM with a .44 magnum.

And, a final jab: My experience – of all athletic endeavors – especially ones that have attracted a writerly audience, boxing is maudlin, sentimental and philosophical in a way no other sport is. I think you need to have another look at ‘BABY’ in that context.

haven't seen the film...

Of course, I am obliged to say that. In your comments, Steve, you say "movies like this can truly be pernicious." Not sure about this particular movie, but I certainly agree with you...you could indeed, write about that.

Some might describe this as ...'"Girly fighting"--It's a joke. Pick your battles, folks. Save the outrage for the real issues.' Yes, you said that Steve, and so I can only echo G West, and say you appear to be focusing in the wrong direction here.

You notice, though, that I keep coming back to read your pieces ...one of them once moved me to tears, and a deep appreciation of the writing you can do.

Mr S.B.

I think you have actually quite missed the point of what Million Dollar Baby was all about, and therefore you have what I consider to be an unwarranted hatred for it.

First hint: It is not about boxing.

Second hint (this will appear to be a non-sequitor, but it's not): American Psycho is not about murder or sex.

It's under that rock, no, that one...!

"If you're going to make a movie about death and grief, shouldn't it contain some truth?"

Huh? And where would you go to dig that up - pun intended - ? It's not as if a great number of folks have been there and back and made video recordings or indeed remember anything, is it? How do YOU know it isn't one great foggy cocktail party with blurry figures all around? It's not that different from the ideas of Hel and Hades and so on. Of course it is a Mecca for imagination marketers - we don't know anything at-all. Comfort? I don't know what shape and form of the hereafter I personally would find most comforting - oblivion and decay and the great recycler, or some ethereal version of my present three-dimensional self to waft through the spheres for 'all eternity'. Heh. As for connection with the dead, this is easily effected by going to their resting place and talking to them. All you need is a good dose of fly agaric or henbane, and a dark night between now and Yule. Whatever you didn't get around to find out while those whose who have gone beyond were still here, you will get answered all right. It'll be like little lights inside your head.

Dorothy and John

Dorothy--That's exactly my point. No one really knows. That's the agony of the human condition, and the pain of grief. No one knows. So instead of exploring that pain and uncertainty, a movie like Hereafter simply invents a psychic who really does know. Uncertainty solved! Yay!

John, I relish a rare opportunity to rant further about Million Dollar Baby. You say it's not about boxing, by which I take it you mean that this movie about boxing transcends its subject matter. But in order to transcend your ostensible subject, you must get that subject right. There's a difference between a great abstract painter and one who simply can't draw. The central plot twist of MDB is so ludicrous, so unrelated to reality, that it entirely destroys the film's credibility. You can't transcend the story if you did a crappy job telling it to begin with.

Plus there's that evil hillbilly family of hers. They made Ming the Merciless seem complex.

S. B.

Well now, I cannot exactly disagree with you on that point. That was pretty over the top -- mind you, have you ever been to a trailer park? I have, and sometimes it's full-on yikes!

I guess it all just boils down to taste really. I mean, aside from the Hillbillies from Hell, I thought the movie did a good job of telling its story.

Why criticize Hereafter?

You think there's something wrong with cheap, mawkish sentiment and easy answers to some of life's greatest mysteries? You want rational, intelligent discussion, possibly without resolution, instead of maudlin, by-the-numbers comfort?

Get with the program, Burgess - slick and easy no-thought is what sells.