AFTER.LIFE-United States-2005

Christina Ricci as Anna Taylor

Justin Long as Paul Coleman

Liam Neeson as Eliot Deacon

Directed by Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo

Written by Agnieska Wojtowicz-Vosloo, Paul Vosloo and Jakub Korolczuk

Usually when I write a review I feel the need to add a nudge or a wink here and there to keep things on the light side. I don’t take myself too seriously because reviewing films is one of the few occasions that I can be myself and not have to feel angry about anything. Don’t misunderstand me; there are some films that anger me for their subject matter. You do recall that I tore apart a completely misogynistic film called “Broken” a while back. If it were up to me the makers of that garbage would be rotting in a cell. But wait, I am digressing as I am sometimes wont to do. Some films anger me, yes; but some just outright puzzle me. “After.Life” puzzled me.

Anna Taylor (Christina Ricci-”Monster”, “Black Snake Moan“) is in an auto accident and wakes up in a funeral home. Eliot Deacon, (Liam Neeson-”The Grey”) the funeral director, tells her that she is dead; that there is no air passing through her lungs and that she is already beginning to decompose. Funny, last time I noticed the dead don’t talk and they sure as hell don’t move. This is where the confusion sets in. Throughout the entire film we are never completely sure if Anna is indeed dead or there is something far more sinister to Eliot Deacon. Does he have the gift of speaking with the dead; or are they only dead after he is finished with them? Then there’s the matter of Anna’s boyfriend Paul (Justin Long). Does he believe that Anna is alive? What about the phone call he receives from her? While I’m going strong I might as well mention Jack (Chandler Canterbury), an 11 year-old boy with an attraction to the deceased. Does he see Anna? What is his connection to her? What is his connection to Eliot Deacon? I don’t like watching a film and not having at least some of the answers. “After.Life” holds its cards close to the chest. It never clues us in on what it’s trying to tell us. Are people more afraid of living than they are of dying? We use the expression that someone “doesn’t deserve to live”. Should it be that they don’t deserve to die as if death were the honor? Questions, questions, and more questions; if I keep asking questions I will slowly go insane. I guess it’s like the great but not yet late Tom Waits said:

What does it matter, a dream of love
Or a dream of lies
We’re all gonna be the same place
When we die
Your spirit don’t leave knowing
Your face or your name
And the wind through your bones
Is all that remains
And we’re all gonna be
Just dirt on the ground.

A story comes to mind about a man who was reading the paper one day. As he glances at the obituaries what do his eyes come across but his very own death notice. He calls the newspaper; “You’re newspaper reports me as being dead. I’m not dead.” The woman on the end asks him, “Sir, where are you calling from?”

Ba-dum-bum!!

TRIVIA

Kate Bosworth was originally cast as Anna but was replaced by Christina Ricci.

The prop knife used by Anna (Christina Ricci) is the same one used by Alex (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction.

Alfred Molina was originally cast as Eliot but was replaced by Liam Neeson.

½

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