Robert Zemeckis uses elaborate screen tricks to tell stories about time and family. We admire his ingenuity, but Here shows how little it counts for when the characters have nothing interesting to say.
Fi1m perspective
In Here (2024), rectangles open inside a fixed frame, letting different decades occupy the same patch of ground. Zemeckis makes time visible without moving the camera; the idea is easy to grasp and worth trying. The trouble is that the people have to explain themselves almost as soon as they arrive. We grew frustrated listening to them announce their feelings and the year, because neither gave us much reason to care about their lives. The device comes from Richard McGuire’s graphic novel, but Zemeckis and co-writer Eric Roth have not found enough drama to sustain it.
That was not always the balance. Back to the Future (1985) established him as an inventive storyteller, while Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) made live action and animation work together for the story. Forrest Gump (1994) put its central character into historical footage, but also found jokes and songs in the history. With The Polar Express (2004), performance capture became a major part of his filmmaking. The interest in time and family remained, but testing what a camera could do increasingly occupied him.
Here reunites Zemeckis with Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Roth, as well as cinematographer Don Burgess and composer Alan Silvestri, all collaborators on Forrest Gump. Familiar collaborators do not solve the central problem: scenes must keep arriving, making their point and disappearing. Burgess’s unmoving view gives the film a clear rule, but it also means nobody can be followed out of the house. Goldsmith’s editing divides the years into such brief visits that relationships barely have time to develop. The de-aged faces are a further distraction, though Wright gives us something to watch beyond the process.
We would not mistake that failure for an inability to work simply. Cast Away (2000), with its long stretches of limited dialogue, is a useful reminder that Zemeckis does not always need people to explain themselves. Even Here has discipline in the way it sticks to its fixed view, and Wright is worth watching despite the restrictions. But the family drama is too thin to reward the experiment. Start with Back to the Future or Who Framed Roger Rabbit; leave Here until curiosity about the method is reason enough.
Biography
Robert Zemeckis is an American director, producer and screenwriter. He studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California, where he met frequent collaborator Bob Gale. His early feature films as director include I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), Used Cars (1980) and Romancing the Stone (1984).
Zemeckis directed and co-wrote Back to the Future (1985) and its sequels. Other films he has directed include Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004), Flight (2012) and Here (2024). On the latter he also served as producer and co-wrote the screenplay.
He has worked repeatedly with composer Alan Silvestri since 1984 and directed Tom Hanks in five films. Zemeckis received the Academy Award for Best Director for Forrest Gump.
