The Life Before Her Eyes

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO_25i6ZHuk[/youtube]

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

We’ve all heard the expression that when someone dies, their life flashes before their eyes, right? I’ve always assumed that that meant the life lived up until now, that I would see the life I had lived up until that point, that I would see me as a child, me with my mom and my brother, me meeting my dad, falling in love with Ted, falling in love with Maya, and maybe some memorable times besides. But what if, instead of looking back, your last moments were spent looking forward?

This, I believe, is the premise of the new film, The Life Before Her Eyes, starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood as the same character, separated by 15 years of a life lived. The essential question becomes, is it a life well lived, and should she pay the terrible price required in living it?

The story, based on the novel by Laura Kasiscke, begins with a horrific school massacre, the type which has become all too common in the news as of late. A disturbed and bullied boy brings a gun to school, shoots and kills many, terrorizes the rest, and finally commits suicide. Diana and Maureen are two young girls, who were in the bathroom at the time of the massacre, rather than in Science class where they belonged. But they are not spared the horrors of the day. The film jumps back and forth, between the massacre and the ‘present’. Each time we visit the day of the massacre, we see a bit more of what transpired that day, as well as more hints of the strengths and weaknesses of the friendship between Diana and Maureen. In the more ‘present day’ (I put it in quotes because although Diana is older, the world around her doesn’t seem to have changed much), Diana is married to a wonderful, loving professor husband, and the mother to a troubled, precocious daughter. As the 15 year anniversary of the massacre approaches, Diana has more and more trouble sleeping, waking, and functioning in the real world.

The end of the film, and I’ve heard of the book as well, felt like the kind of contrivance taken by a lazy writer. Someone more interested in being clever than in writing a truly wonderful story. In that way, it reminded me of the book, My Sister’s Keeper, which left me feeling cheated out of what could have been an amazing experience.

Other than feeling kind of sucker punched by the ending, I really enjoyed this film. It was beautifully shot, and makes you remember the beauty and poignancy of those teen years, though of course few are lucky enough to go through those difficult years looking like Ms. Thurman and Ms. Wood, beautiful creatures both. I would go see it, and I would even pay matinée prices for it, but only if seeing movies in the theater and eating popcorn is part of the pleasure for you. Otherwise, wait for the DVD.