Name: Retro Film Review: Before and After (1996)
Item: Before and After
Rating: 15
Author: @drax

(source:tmdb.org)

"Blood is thicker than water" is motto of the protagonists in Before and After, 1996 thriller-drama directed by Barbet Schroeder. The plot, set in small, seemingly idyllic, New England town, deals with Ryans, successful and wealthy local family. Father Ben (played by Liam Neeson) is successful sculptor while his wife Carolyn (played by Meryl Streep) is a local doctor. Their prestige within community comes under threat after one of local girls is found dead. The chief suspect happens to be her boyfriend and Ryans' sixteen-year old son Jacob (played by Edward Furlong) who is missing for days. In the meantime, Ben finds incriminating evidence and decides to hide it, much to the displeasure of Carolyn, who thinks that Jacob should turn himself in and thus get a chance to explain all that happened. In the meantime, local population starts to point fingers until Jacob finally arrives and offers his version of the tragic event.

Screenwriter Ted Tally wrote script for The Silence of the Lambs, one of the best thrillers in past few decades. Director Barbet Schroeder with his Reversal of Fortune proved that he could handle courtroom dramas very well. The cast, including Meryl Streep, had many respected names. But they all failed to inject any spirit into this dry by-the-numbers family drama which looks like a bad television film. The main (and actually the only) dramatic conflict in the film - whether family should protect their own at all costs or sacrifice them for greater good - is mishandled, and after not very intriguing opening the film slowly meanders towards all-too-predictable ending. Even the otherwise respectable actors leave bad impression, with exception of Alfred Molina in the role of Machiaevelian defence lawyer. Watching Before and After is an experience after which the viewers would start to appreciate word "never".

RATING: 2/10 (-)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on January 13th 2004)