Before and After

The plot of Before And After is a good idea, but is ruined by the trite treatment given here. Liam Neeson (Ben) and Meryl Streep (Carolyn) turn in surprisingly weak acting jobs here. It gets boring real fast. Personally, I was annoyed by the obvious attempts to manipulate viewers into sympathizing with the Ryan family, for instance when Martha (Jacob's girlfriend) was portrayed as selfish and promiscuous, and when Martha's mother was shown as ugly, bitter and snipy in contrast with saintly Carolyn. The postcard device was also confusing and contrived, and the lawyer was too much of a stereotyped caricature. The only character I cared about was Judith (Jacob's sister), as an innocent victim of the rest of the family's panicked stupidity. Too much oversimplified moralizing, not enough character development. A timewaster.

Great actors, good director. Boring story.

Listed as a mystery / thriller, this movie is no such thing. It is a more of a family drama.

The wire could have done a better job of plotting and building suspense. And the kid's lines sound too adult. No kid talks like that.

The only redeeming quality was the young girl.

Liam Neeson plays a hot headed artist to his doctor wife, played by Meryl Streep. Edward Furlong plays their 16-year old son and Julie Weldon their 12-year old daughter. They do well; Julie is particularly good. It is just that awful script.

The set is good. Cinematography is fair. The direction is fine.

"Before and After" isn't any kind of great movie, but an interesting look at situations going out of control. Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson turn in their usual good performances, as does Edward Furlong. It's just that this story of parents having to deal with their son getting accused of murder is sort of routine (although some scenes are pretty intense). It seems like Streep and Neeson deserve something a little more than this. The people behind the movie probably could have developed things a little further.

All in all, this movie's worth seeing, if only once. Also starring Alfred Molina, Daniel Von Bargen (Commandant Spengler on "Malcolm in the Middle") and John Heard.

'Before and After' is the kind of movie that you expect to be really fantastic. Great actors, good plot. It has huge potential. Unfortunately, the actual script seriously flaws this movie. There stand brilliant actors such as Liam Neeson, Meryl Streep, and Edward Furlong. But the actual words coming out of their mouths were often so silly, it makes you wonder how the same person who wrote 'The Silence of the Lambs' also wrote this screenplay. Overall, despite the script flaws, it has quite a good mystery, and besides the young daughter, a brilliant cast. It is worth a watch, if just for the main casts' beautiful performances.

"Before and After" has a fine premise - the girlfriend of their 16-yr-old son is found apparently murdered in the snow and the parents struggle with what to do. Eventually, when the son goes A.W.O.L., they suspect he commited a murder, and the whole family struggles with what to do. The father finds bloody items in the trunk of the car and is able to dispose of them before the sheriff returns with a search warrant. Eventually the son shows up, the father and mother disagree on what to do, the younger sister gets upset.

"Before and After" also has some of the finest actors of our day - Liam Neeson as the father, Meryl Streep as the mother, Daniel Von Bargen as the sheriff.

But, somehow the movie only works moderately well. Some of the dialog is a bit dubious, some of the scenes are over-dramatic. I suppose it is a function of so-so writing and directing.

Still, it is a film that kept my interest very well. The story got me to thinking what I would have done if any of my teenage children had gotten into a similar bind. With a great writer and director this could have been a "10" movie. I rate it 7 of 10.