Film Perfection

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

you've seen the basic plot; young uma hears from pal he's going to bring guns and shoot people; she doesn't say anything; after endlessly long shots of computers, very, very slowly panning down to desk, ponderously down the chairs, finally to the floor, we discover- after machine guns and screams, that there are people dead; finally corned, uma gives up her best friend when the but says which one will i kill (someone watched sophie's choice); so back and forth we go, young uma, mom uma, and for some reason countless shots of diving into a pool and watching the hair flow in the water; there is a lot of that who knows why; but mainly who would you possibly be interested in in theis movie? there are no minor characters developed; uma's teenage pal is an airhead, young uma not much better, and as gorn up torments everyone around her because she said kill my friend not me; this is someone you care about? specially as it is the obvious basis for the movie and dragged out in endless flashbacks until the end of the movie- as if you couldn't see it coming in the first 10 minutes, a la back to that scene rerunning five more words of dialogue each time until... yes, we knew that long, long ago; faux near ending being that uma recalls that she was the one shot- leaving viewer to think 1. if the movie is all not true and uma was really shot, then how come uma the mom exists and why doid we have to watch the lie? or, 2. uma to cope pretends she was shot, and... so what? overall- tedious, endless diving into pools with flowing hair, repetitive (many scenes shown 3 and 4 times), obvious, sophomoric

I rarely watch movies so for me to take time out to even comment means something. Last night I was channel surfing and happened upon the title of the movie. I went ahead and auto tuned it as it read interesting. Interesting is NOT a strong enough word. This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. The shots are stunning,the acting is superb, and the way it was put together was absolutely brilliant. It kept me fully engaged where most movies bore me within minutes (which is why I watch so few).I was fully enthralled from beginning to end. If you enjoy movies that make you ask yourself questions, where everything isn't handed to you on a silver platter, I highly recommend this movie. Perfect movie for minds that love to think!

I read the synopis for this film and then thought this would be a very interesting film to view. Uma Thurman does a decent job and is convincing as the tormented mother Diana who is getting over a school shooting incident that happened when she was in high school. Even Rachel Wood who plays the younger Diana back in high school is also very good. The film switches (without really any warning) between the two time periods.The film starts off well and you can be forgiven that this is going to be a melodrama with psychological themes for Diana - and it is essentially. The film doesn't give you straight on the plate what happened back at the shooting and the fact that Diana was a survivor. So you get to know her better when she was younger and how her hopes and dreams and fears were contemplated for her future adulthood and we see in the present day how this has influenced her life.Up to the halfway point the film is hooking but then it keeps switching back and forth without really giving you time to absorb what has happened in both times. You really are waiting to get down to the point of what really happened back in her high school and keeps making flashbacks to it but then keeps pausing. It can get a bit frustrating and for me personally I just wanted them to get to the point. When it gets there, it is a bit puzzling but once you realise what the film was climaxing to - it is a bit of a cheat (though luckily nothing as horrible as Perfect Stranger's ending).Thurman gives the performance to watch here and Evan Rachel Wood is equally as good. The cinematography was really good and captured the mood of despair and sorrow the film carries. I don't know why so many critics hated it - it must be because of the constant switching back to try and entice you and ends up frustrating you sometimes and the ending which seems a bit implausible but overall I enjoyed this film and it shows how for some people they can imagine a life they may have in future and not realise how much the present impacts them.

The narrative of 'Life Before Her Eyes' switches backwards and forwards between two episodes in the life of Diana McFee. The first is her teenage summer prior to a Colombine-style high school massacre - while the second occurs twenty years later, as her town prepares to remember this tragic event's anniversary. In the high school time-line, Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) hangs out with best friend Maureen (Eva Amurri), alternately discussing future plans and current boyfriends. Their fine performances are captured in radiant dreamlike cinematography which intensifies a sense of foreboding as they approach their fateful encounter with a homicidal armed schoolmate.In the later sequences, a 30-something Diana (Uma Thurman) is embroiled in another crisis, with her marriage under strain and a precocious daughter exhibiting rebellious tendencies similar to Diana's student behavior. Unfortunately these segments are handicapped by a banal story-line and Thurman's lifeless performance. By the end of the film all the loose ends have been neatly resolved, but the climax is ruined by a plot twist which contradicts all the previous character development. Apparently this flawed finale was forced on the producers at Thurman's insistence.