CAPTION: CREDIT MIRAMAX/IMAGEMOVERS
By Dan Deming
If you enjoy being depressed for an hour and forty-five minutes there’s no better way than watching the just-released Tom Hanks movie called “Here”. For a long time, I’ve said there isn’t a bad movie Hanks has made but that conclusion has now been retracted. It’s not that Hanks doesn’t do good acting it’s simply that Here has a number of flaws such as too many characters, complicated time-jumping storytelling and several visuals not typical of Director Robert Zemeckis who brought Hanks and his Forrest Gump co-star Robin Wright back together for another Zemeckis directed movie.
The story expands on a 2014 novel by Richard Mc Guire about multiple families in the same house over a century in time. It mostly takes place in one room showing love, loss and life that leaps from opening scenes of dinosaurs and the ice age to Benjamin Franklin, multiple eras of music and a touching memory loss scene as it closes. The 68-year-old Hanks is called upon to play an 18-year-old who progresses through the years in sometimes less than convincing style. And the movie moves at a dizzying speed that is difficult to clearly follow meaning if you leave the theater for a restroom break or popcorn you’re liable to come back lost and confused.
I’ve been surprised to see many reviewers sharply critical of Here and the early audience ratings from Rotten Tomatoes are a dismal 36 percent. While Here may be creditable filmmaking for its’ artsy editing and challenging blending of families over time I bet most people who go will come away both disappointed and depressed, perhaps because it paints a true life picture that is hard to accept and watch. Two out of a possible four stars for Here, now showing at Hutchinsons’ B and B Theaters.
On a much brighter note, you’ve probably never heard of Jared Freiburg and the Vagabonds but they gave quite a performance last week at the latest Hutchinson Community Concert with a variety of 50s rock and roll music. Freiburg was among the original Million Dollar Quartet singers in one of Broadway and tourings’ more memorable shows and most people came away highly impressed by the concert associations’ offering. If you missed the show because it was Halloween night ticket-holders should circle next April 4th when the same show will be in Great Bend and you can take advantage of the reciprocal that lets you attend there. And if you are a Floyd Cramer piano fan there will be a tribute Community Concert honoring him Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17th, at Memorial Hall.
