‘BEFORE AND AFTER’ IS UNIQUE SLOW-MOVING FAMILY DRAMA
A slow-moving drama about aftereffects, Before and After is an interesting drama.
Before and After (1996) Film Review
Building a good life is something Ben and Carolyn Ryan (Liam Neeson, Meryl Streep) have worked hard to do. They both work hard; he is an artist and she a doctor, and love their children. Both of whom are very different. Jake (Edward Furlong) fights with his father constantly and Jude (Julia Weldon) is the younger and for now, she remains happy and invests in helping dad cook. But, as she tells us, life changes and then there is after.
When Jake becomes a prime murder suspect, the family’s life goes into chaos.
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‘BEFORE AND AFTER’ IS UNIQUE SLOW-MOVING FAMILY DRAMA. #LiamNeeson stars in 90s drama about protecting someone you love. #MerylStreep #Movies #Drama Share on XIn more recent years, I’ve learned that I like to “cold” watch films. Instead of reading dozens of things about something or watching trailers, I like to just hit play and trust my movie judgement. Before and After follows suit. The script moves slowly, but I think it does this to allow the emotions and reactions time to “breath,” and for us to have a chance to really see or absorb them.
Leading this is strong performances by Streep and Neeson. They turn in emotional characters and it’s this that anchors the movie. Surprisingly, Jake too is good. His conflict is understandable, and fear justified. I also respect him, recognizing that truth should be the only way. Though we also understand that there is fear of how it will affect his father. That’s a heavy burden in addition to what he carries of his own. While you sympathize with Ben’s dilemma as a parent, I don’t respect his denial. In any situation like this, if a parent offers or wants to help, I think part of this is listening, at a minimum, to what the child is thinking or feeling. Saying more will spoil the film, but suffice to say, there is lots of sorrow.
Before and After wasn’t a title I was familiar with prior to now. If you like the actors or slow dramas about conflict, particularly between characters and a battle about truth vs lies, then this film is interesting.
Stream, at publication, on Prime Video; the film may also be digitally rented or purchased on places like Apple TV or Prime Video
Photo: Alamy
Content: Teenagers make out in a care and its implied they do more. There is talk of them always being “safe.” Another scene shows a married couple making out and having sex; we see them on top pushing her clothing up her leg before it’s a kind of “after” scene. Someone becomes pregnant. We see a body in an ER with a bloodied, mangled face; there’s a body lying face down in blood. An F-word and other minor profanity is part of the PG-13 rating reason, too.
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