La vie devant ses yeux

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 her daughter exhibiting rebellious tendencies similar to Diana's student behavior. Unfortunately these segments are handicapped by 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.

I had the privilege of seeing this film at its World Premiere this weekend at the Toronto Film Festival. From the very opening sequence, this picture draws you in with its sheer beauty. The cinematography is terrific and at some points even terrifying (in a breath taking way) but what impressed me most was the dialog. Everything seemed so real, which played up every detail to me and made the picture all the more engrossing. Uma Thurman is top notch in this but i believe that Evan Rachel Wood really makes it because honestly, who else could we expect to play the teen angst better than her? The relationship between Eva Amurri's Maureen and Wood's Diana is so realistic in every situation and much of that credit has to go to Emil Stern's adaptation. There are so many themes that run deep throughout this movie, and the ever pressing scare of school shootings makes this hit home really really hard. This is an amazing film that will touch every single emotion and leave you thinking about it for days. Go see this movie whenever you get the chance. It is an intensely beautiful and moving film and most definitely one of the best I have seen so far this year.

This film is about an intertwining story of a teenage girl involved in a college massacre, and her life 15 years later.

When I watched "The Life Before Her Eyes", I did not enjoy it. I thought it was some kind of supernatural thriller but it was not. The young Diana and the grown up Diana were connected too thinly together. I did not see much connection between the two, apart from disconnected scenes such as the name Emma, or the similar behaviour between Emma and the young Diana. Hence, scenes become disjointed mess. The ending was utterly confusing, and I was left to wonder what I had watched for 90 minutes.

After reading about what really happened in the film on the message boards, I started to appreciate the film better. What I thought was thin connection happened for a reason. I can only say that I am not in the mood to play puzzles or to analyse a film in depth. If I watched it another time I might have enjoyed it more.

Just saw this in Kiev without knowing a thing (except it was in English) because Evan Rachel Wood is a great actress and going to be a major star. This has all the tension and nail-biting suspense of Rukrainian Vadi Perlman's House of Sand + Fog- too much considering the subject. (I could have questioned him at Molodist FF, but saw listing too late). Wood made her bones in this movie- being erotic, sharp, deep, beautiful, wounded, terrified in utterly effortless and unaffected acting. Uma is not my favorite actress- showing the deeply neurotic side of her that I think is real, but it works perfectly in this movie- as she displays the PTSD that every person back from Iraq knows too well. The parallel track of what is going on with her wanton, wild, and maybe damaged daughter adds more tension- has the poison of that event somehow soaked into her daughter? The cinematography is excellent as it charts the deep feelings between 2 best girlfriends, and the mystical internal turmoil over time and memory, now and then, real and illusion.

My only problem is that I know this subject intimately - I reviewed the book Copycat Effect: http://hammernews.com/copycateffect.htm , which proves that almost any publicity about these mass shootings causes kids and adults to reenact them, usually on anniversaries of previous events. "Eyes" showed the shootings again and again in lovingly graphic detail and I don't think this subject should get any major movie play- it's just too dangerous. See if, in a couple of years, some schoolyard shooter doesn't say he saw this movie 20 times. On the other hand, emphasizing the pain and horror of these events is also recommended by shrinks.

I've never posted a review or even so much as commented on a film here, or anywhere else BUT after just viewing this movie I wanted to see other opinions.

This was the first site I stumbled upon. Im not even going to comment on the the life before her eyes, instead I'd like to question some of the negative reviews left.

To slate a movie and then say that the you "skipped" scenes and obviously didn't pick up on MAJOR plot points explained throughout the movie many times is sad to be honest. Many of the negative reviews are complete drivel and only serve to show the stupidity or idiocy of the reviewer.

Other negative reviews are coherent and we'll written and even though I enjoyed the movie I can understand some of the annoyances. I doubt I'll ever take the time to post here again :D (Im the lazy sort) but I would recommend this movie to anyone as its one of the better movies I've seen in a long time :) BUT I would warn that its slow moving and tries to be a little too emotional for its own good.

that is all