Here (2024): Review and Summary
In “Here,” we watch as likable people live on this one plot of land for hundreds of years in a narrative that jumps around a bit much.
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| Film Length | 1 Hour 44 Minutes |
| Release Date | October 31, 2024 |
| Advisory Rating | Rated PG-13 |
| Initially Available On/Via | Theatrically |
| Genre(s) | Drama |
| Distributor | Sony Pictures Releasing |
| Director | Robert Zemeckis |
| Writer | Eric Roth, Robert Zemeckis |
| Based On Work By | Richard McGuire |
| Character Name | Actor |
| Helen | Nikki Amuka-Bird |
| Devon | Nicholas Pinnock |
| Margaret | Robin Wright |
| Richard | Tom Hanks |
| Rose | Kelly Reilly |
| Al | Paul Bettany |
| Stella | Ophelia Lovibond |
| Lee | David Fynn |
| John | Gwilym Lee |
| Pauline | Michelle Dockery |
| William Franklin | Daniel Betts |
Plot Summary
“Here” focuses on a plot of land in modern Pennsylvania and everything that has happened to it, from the fall of the dinosaurs to the age of Benjamin Franklin, the rise of aviation, all the way to the Covid pandemic. Throughout the time, we follow an indigenous couple and see William Franklin and his wife, Pauline and her husband John, the creator of the Laz-Z-Boy Lee, and his wife Stella, then Al and Rose, who give birth to Richard, who marries Margaret. Lastly, Devon and Helen Harris close us out as the last owners of the house in modern times. We watch children grow up, people die, and everything in between and see all the memories one plot of land holds.
Character Descriptions
William Franklin
William Franklin is the son of Benjamin Franklin, who did not support his father’s participation in the American Revolution.
Pauline
Pauline is a mother and wife who is very prim and proper. She didn’t really like the house when her husband John bought it, mainly because William Franklin’s home, across the street, she found to be an eyesore.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Boy Kills World.”
John
John is Pauline’s husband. He loves airplanes, especially the kind you can personally fly, and he wanted to buy the house because an aerodrome was being built nearby.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Lee
Lee is the inventor of one of the world’s first recliners and is married to Stella.
Stella
Stella is Lee’s eccentric wife.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made.”
Al
Al is a World War II veteran who got the house on the GI Bill because his wife, Rose, wanted it for them to raise their family. Like his eldest son, Richard, he worked in sales for most of his career, with one of the things he sold being vacuums.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Uncle Frank.”
Rose
Rose is Al’s wife, who raised her children, looked after Richard’s daughter, and loved having her family under one roof, especially during the holidays.
- The actor is also known for their role in “A Haunting In Venice.”
Richard
Richard is Al and Rose’s eldest. He originally was into the arts, but he honed in on drawing and painting as he got older. Like his dad, he set aside his dreams to make a living and take care of his family.
- The actor is also known for their role in “A Man Called Otto.”
Margaret
Margaret is Richard’s high school sweetheart. She originally intended to become a lawyer, but like Richard’s dreams, Margaret’s were set aside once she got pregnant in her late teens.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Unbreakable.”
Devon
Devon, we don’t learn anything beyond the fact that he has a teenage son with Helen.
- The actor is also known for their role in “The Book of Clarence.”
Helen
Like Devon, we don’t learn anything really about Helen beyond that she is married with one child. Also, both know that with their 16-year-old son driving soon, they have to talk to him about how to interact with the police if ever pulled over.
- The actor is also known for their role in “Knock At The Cabin.”
Other Noteworthy Information
- Movie Contains: Cursing, Drinking
- The distributor is also known for “It Ends With Us.”
- The writer is also known for “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Review
Our Rating: Mixed (Divisive)
Audience
“Here” is for those who like movies that are sweet and endearing in some ways but aren’t tearjerkers.
Highlights
The Editing & Story Of A Home
Throughout the film, we jump from one family to another, sometimes not for a whole scene but just a moment. To make this visually appealing and not just fade or cut from one to another, only a section of the screen changes, partly to show how the room transforms, if not people. It leads to the type of appreciation people who love old things have as they look at buildings or places as storytellers.
It reminds you that places didn’t just pop up because you needed housing. Never mind, every scratch, marking, and more holds a story that may have been hidden with wallpaper, partly covered by paint, but it still happened. People still held some of their most significant moments, good or bad, in the place you now call home. Which as you see that piece of land evolve, furniture move, and things happen, it can make you look at your own home and wonder about what happened since it was built.
On The Fence
It’s Easy To Feel Disconnected From The Characters
You would think that with all the families going through, especially the deaths, you might get emotional and in your feelings, but you may not. One of the issues with “Here” is that it is very liberal with time jumping to the point that it may take you at least half of the movie to really get a grasp on who is who. Also, because it coerces context clues to know the time period, you might think we’re not always going forward in time.
So, as much as the film advertises Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as the leads, and we watch Hank’s character, Richard, go from a baby to an old man, I wouldn’t say Hank’s charm hits as it usually can. You’ll get a grasp on who Richard is, as you will everyone else, in terms of their dreams, their issues, and things like that, but sometimes it is like seeing that friend you only do a few times a year. With “Here,” it will often feel like you’re playing catch up as we bounce from family to family, and you can never fully get settled for just as you do; you’re catching up with someone else with a completely different scenario and in a different time period.
Some Families Are More Developed Than Others
Off the bat, the indigenous characters are barely part of the film. One minute, they meet, she is pregnant, and then there is one more scene, and that’s it. Their conversations aren’t translated and are short, and then we jump to Helen and Devon with their 16-year-old, and them giving him the talk of how to handle being Black and pulled over by police. From that, we jump back to the 1900s, when Michelle Dockery was talking to her character’s husband about the dangers of flying, and for most, there was just a singular focus.
In comparison, Al and Rose’s family gets the weight of the movie, and this could be because that is the focus of the book. With them, we see Al and Rose buy the house using the GI Bill, raise a few kids, their eldest Richard or Ricky, bring Margaret around, the birth of their first child, decades upon decades of that family living together, and more.
This leads to what can feel like a lopsided movie that only included certain characters to honor the book, not because they had any real investment or desire to tell any story that didn’t have a famous or could attract financing actor.
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