In the hands of the director Vadim Perelman, it becomes a jumble of dramatic scenes and disorientating flashbacks that merge into a confusing, stream-of-consciousness narrative, and the twist, when it comes, is a complete cheat.
The Life Before Her Eyes (2008)
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Reviews Counted: 88
Fresh: 22
Rotten:66
Average Rating: 4.4/10
Consensus: Despite earnest performances, Life Before Her Eyes is a confusing, painfully overwrought melodrama.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for violent and disturbing content, language and brief drug use
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:27-03-2009
Synopsis: Imaginative, impetuous and wild, Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) can’t wait for her adult life to begin. Whiling away the final days of high school in the lush springtime, Diana tests her limits with sex... Imaginative, impetuous and wild, Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) can’t wait for her adult life to begin. Whiling away the final days of high school in the lush springtime, Diana tests her limits with sex and drugs as her more conservative friend Maureen (Eva Amurri) watches with concern. But Diana’s aura of invincibility is shattered when a senseless act of violence erupts at school, forever changing the lives of the two best friends. Fifteen years later, a grown Diana (Uma Thurman) is still trying to come to terms with the traumatic events of that fateful day. On the surface, the adult Diana has made a picture perfect life for herself. She’s still living in the sleepy Connecticut suburb she grew up in with her husband Paul, a professor at the local college. Her beautiful young daughter, Emma, is smart and creative, and possesses a fiercely independent streak reminiscent of her mother. But all is not well—as the anniversary of her adolescent trauma approaches, the darkness that Diana has tried to escape closes in. Meanwhile, her husband has become increasingly absent, her daughter has taken to hiding from teachers, and worst of all, Diana’s own grip on reality is starting to falter. Moving seamlessly through both stages of Diana’s evolution, THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES delves deep into the crossroads that we all face—where a simple decision can change the course of everything to come, and where a lifetime can be encapsulated in a single moment. With THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES, Vadim Perelman, director of the acclaimed HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, has established himself as one of America’s greatest young directors of serious, probing drama. --© Magnolia [More]
Starring: Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, Eva Amurri, Oscar Isaac
Starring: Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, Eva Amurri, Oscar Isaac, Gabrielle Brennan
Director: Vadim Perelman
Director: Vadim Perelman
Screenwriter: Emil Stern
Producer: Vadim Perelman, Aimee Peyronnet, Anthony Katagas
Composer: James Horner
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Reviews for The Life Before Her Eyes
A thoughtful, if sentimental, semi-successful attempt to craft a drama about life and choice around the difficult subject matter of a school shooting.
The movie’s relentless dream-like quality could induce slack-jawed wonder…or chronic narcolepsy depending how receptive the viewer is to non-linear narrative and super-stylised flights of fancy.
A touching tale from director Vadim Perelman with a surprise ending that leaves you plenty to ponder.
Part Elephant, part Jacob’s Ladder, moments of bruising power are dulled by overwrought symbolism and a baffling wrap-up.
Ambition and accomplishment are aeons apart in this would-be meaningful drama.
Surely the point of a “twist” is that it should slot into the plot with a satisfying click, not that it should invalidate 50 per cent of what came before it?
Vadim Perelman's drama is both tasteful and tedious. With its honeyed visuals, affluent air and coy portents of disaster, it's like an advert for private health care played out on an endless loop.
The film’s dogged repetition of its pivotal scene has to go somewhere, but it’s enslaved to a narrative conceit even M Night Shyamalan might find a trifle gimmicky.
Flitting back and forth in time, it's too confusing to entertain, while Wood and Thurman look nothing like one another, making for a disjointed and often dire experience.
Poorly conceived, badly written and ultimately ridiculous drama with a jaw-droppingly crass twist ending that backfires horribly.
The ending is as baffling as anything preceding it - giving rise to a genre conflict situation.
THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES starts off as superficial, sentimental trite, then turns into an incoherent journey into God knows what.
baboyriarika poiitiko aytohaidema toy Perelman meta to House of Sand and Fog (2003), ayti ti fora dipla aforito, horis ena kapoio stori na krybetai kato ap' toys koyfioys loystrarismenoys symbolismoys toy
The surprises Perelman has for you along the way will blow your mind and have you talking hours after you leave the theater.
It's an underrated, and horrific little dramatic thriller that twists the noose at every turn...
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