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Movies / Upcoming / The Life Before Her Eyes
The Life Before Her Eyes

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The Life Before Her Eyes (2008)

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Reviews Counted:91

Fresh:22

Rotten:69

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

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Reviews for The Life Before Her Eyes

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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The surprises Perelman has for you along the way will blow your mind and have you talking hours after you leave the theater.

Full Review Source: ReelzChannel.com | comment Comment
09/08/08
Heather Huntington
Heather Huntington
ReelzChannel.com

It's an underrated, and horrific little dramatic thriller that twists the noose at every turn...

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
06/29/08
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

The Life Before Her Eyes has the core of an inventive narrative and a twist that probably worked better as a literary device.

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
06/08/08
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

Disturbing school-shooting drama is a puzzler.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
06/02/08
S. Jhoanna Robledo
S. Jhoanna Robledo
Common Sense Media

...slowly builds an emotional power that takes us by surprise...

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
05/28/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Just ignore the critics -- in this case, we don't know what we're talking about.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
05/28/08
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

Studio movies rarely depict Christians as fallible, thoughtful people who've been strengthened by faith but don't take it for granted.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
05/23/08
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

The twist is exactly what you think it is, and it pretty much invalidates any emotional investment you can work up before it arrives.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
05/15/08
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

Should my life flash before my eyes before my demise, I am certain that movie scenes will appear. I only ask that this movie not be included in the edit.

Full Review Source: Film Experience | comment Comment
05/15/08
Nathaniel Rogers
Nathaniel Rogers
Film Experience

(The Life Before Her Eyes) is one of those films that you will walk out of just feeling very shaken up and disturbed.

Full Review Source: BDK Reviews | comment Comment
05/14/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
BDK Reviews

That the ending doesn't play fair with the audience is a misdemeanor; the felony is that the filmmakers don't seem to realize what an ugly moral statement they're making with it.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment 1 Comment
05/09/08
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

A 'Carnival of Souls' for Mitch Albom readers...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
05/09/08
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

... not so much a bad movie as an infuriating one, a pretty empty thing that wants desperately to be loved for its deep thoughts.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
05/09/08
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Director Vadim Perelman...makes a misstep with the well crafted but flawed The Life Before Here Eyes.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
05/05/08
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

[A] confused, morally queasy, self-important mess.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
05/02/08
Marc Mohan
Marc Mohan
Oregonian

In the end, Life is a challenging success, with Wood's performance again affirming her status among the young generation of actors, and Perelman's vision promising more intrigue to come.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
05/02/08
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

[J]ust when you think you're getting an interesting movie about women and their travails and triumphs, the whiffs of a Shocking! Twist! Ending! begin to appear."

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC

And then, THUD. Like an Acme anvil, the ending smashes everything to smithereens and you're left as discouraged as Wile E. Coyote.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment 1 Comment
05/01/08
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Diana pays for her bad choices perpetually, in large part through her self-comparisons to M, whose piety she alternately teases and reveres.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
04/30/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Full of fussed-over significant images and delicately planned interlocking narrative motives, and it's about as subtle and clever as somebody clubbing you over the head with a folding chair

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
04/29/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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Latest News for The Life Before Her Eyes

September 22, 2008: BloggingSundance.com: An anti-abortion movement propaganda screed masquerading as a teen angst drama. There's apparently a new kind of female road movie out there, called the guilt trip. Opens in new window
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February 09, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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