ChargedFan I just happened across this movie on The Movie Channel last night, and I must say I am so glad I did. I hesitated to watch, because I'm honestly not a fan of Uma Thurman at all—but I do think Evan Rachel Wood is a pretty impressive actress, and I'd never heard anything about this movie, so I thought I'd give it a look at the start, with plans on probably switching over to another show when it started—but I never switched to the other show. I actually think it's perhaps the best I've ever seen of Uma Thurman, although granted I've not watched much of hers. I was impressed as usual by Even Rachel Wood's performance—and I had no idea who the young actress playing her friend Maureen was (until I came and read the reviews here), but I thought she did a pretty good job as well. But I digress from my main reason for coming and posting on this site.Granted, I was tired when I happened upon this and was halfway working at the start of the movie so I wasn't fully focused (at least not at first, but I did quickly become more focused as the movie went on), but I did not think the title nor certain of the music others have cited was a dead give-away to what was actually happening, nor was I making sense of some of the connections (for instance, the adult Diana saying "no" when asked if she was a survivor at the memorial that I saw one reviewer referenced—and after reading it, I thought "Oh yeah, okay!")…so when we actually finally got the full footage of the key bathroom scene, I was taken completely by surprise.I watched through the whole movie fully believing I was watching one thing, which I should note I thought was a pretty good story as I thought it was being told—hence the earlier comment about Uma Thurman, I thought she appeared to be very believable as a PTSD victim and I enjoyed what I thought was a study of the human psyche following such a traumatic event--even if some things didn't seem to make sense, only to find it was something completely different. I don't normally respond out loud to things I'm watching on TV, but my initial response when we finally got the full bathroom footage was a verbally spoken "Oh my God!" I immediately questioned what I had watched (and I'll leave it at that so as to not give away the twist), and wished that I could re-watch it all again immediately. Alas, I could not—so I came onto this site instead to look for these reviews. And I'm glad I did as so many things I hadn't realized the significance of when I was watching it became clear. And still, I wish I could watch it again pretty much right away, or wish I had been paying closer attention at the start—so I will be looking to rent this somewhere in the very near future.As to those who said there was too much flashback-forward method used, having seen this after the start of the 2010 fall TV season, I can say that I think both The Event and The Whole Truth—both TV shows that I want to like and watch—may use too much of this method for me. This movie did not. It seemed well-paced throughout, and although I sometimes found the Uma Thurman parts seeming a little long and wishing we'd get back to the younger girls and the "critical scene," I realized after the fact that it was probably just perfect as it was.All in all, this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time—and it definitely kept me thinking about it for a long time afterward, something few movies do. The comparisons to "Sixth Sense" are perhaps somewhat appropriate—yet this movie is entirely different in many ways and therefore does not deserve to be called a "copycat" in my book. I didn't see "Elephant" so I can't speak to that. Anybody who appreciates a thinking movie, who appreciates the complexities and frailties of the human psyche, and who doesn't mind seeing the realistic tragedy of a school shooting played out—which I thought they reflected the terror of quite well in this movie—should appreciate this movie.

phd_travel This is a terrible movie. Even if you are a fan of the talented Evan Rachel or Uma it's just so bad it's not worth it. The story is weak. Without the voyeuristic need to see the Columbine like shooting - there is really little to draw the viewers attention.What a badly written story. The flashbacks are way too often - every few minutes. Even though the ending twist is clear - it's a disappointing and annoying end - so you feel you wasted your time.The acting is quite good. Watched this cause I'm a fan of Evan Rachel & Uma. Evan looked really pretty and acted well. Eva Amurri is a little too unattractive in a distracting way she doesn't have the star quality of her mother. Uma was a bit haggard but acted well. Just feel terrible that such talented actresses were associated with this terrible endeavour.

cannonclubonline This film shows us some of the best cinematography I've seen in years & is a masterpiece. Ukranian born Vadim Perelman comes back with sheer & utter blinding talent on this film after his debut as a screenwriter and director for House of Sand & Fog (2003) starring Ben Kingsley & Jennifer Connelly. Cinema is much more interesting when new directors try new exciting ways of telling a story. I can't wait to see Perelman's third film Poltergeist hopefully to be out in 2013.Creating the sequences in The Life Before Her Eyes must have been nerve-racking; trying to decipher life into tiny moments by editing various time frames together to make an extremely intelligent and complex interplay of images. We seldom if ever find a film that captures the fleetingness of life in such a philosophical and allegorical way. The use of a superb mixture of images, motif, sound, timing, smart dialogue, use of replay for traumatic overture & cascading suspense, mystery, casting, direction, editing, & acting all give this film every ingredient for top notch rating and life-long impact.The sound conflict-resolution theme allows the viewer to expect more from this film, promising us to deliver the right message at the right time, often bring us just a step away from the precipice, but always jerking us back in the nick of time to prepare us for the next series of revealing sequences. The film quickly establishes the main characters, who play a very important role in the telling. Diana is doubly played as young (Evan Rachel Wood) and the 15 years older (Uma Thurman). Both roles are played with believability. Wood holds her own against the backdrop of a much more mature Thurman since Wood's eyes look to tell everything about her in seconds. A picture can do that, yet not many actors are interesting enough to have that Hollywood starlet allure, yet both Wood & Thurman seem to capture the essence of the role and play it convincingly well.Funny that the working title of this film was changed from "In Bloom" back to The Life Before Her Eyes". It would almost seem a better name for the film as to not give away the experience of watching the film unfold without any clues or cues as to what may transpire. The Turkish title Bir nefeste hayat translates out to "The Life in a breath".Certain lines in this films tend to set you on either euphoria or the precipice. The lines most interestingly positioned in the film for maximum effect are "Conscience is the voice of GOD, the nature and heart of man." "The heart is the body's strongest organ." A fact "72% of the body is composed of water. Also, when Michael says "If I don't kill you, who should I kill?" Symbolism is used throughout this film. The master of symbols used in this film has to be the symbolic nature of water to represent life & death. We see this death metaphor played out in humanity with the phrases "River of Life", "Crossing Over Jordan", & the piercing of Jesus's side & the mixing of blood with water. The secondary motif often used is flowing blood. A third motif is blinding fog.James Horner, who also worked with the director of this film on House of Sand and Fog, delivers a haunting music score, which adds to the David Lynchian style of sensory overload. The overall haunting effect of this film on your senses makes this 2002 novel written by Laura Kasischke a perfect career debut film choice for screenplay writer Emil Stern III wrote the screenplay for Tenderness (2009 Russell Crow).

Mia Hargreave This movie is boring and dumb. First of all; ominous background music all through a film does not make a thriller! And the ending, honestly... Have movies with surprise/twist endings become so fashionable that the rest of the movie doesn't even matter anymore? Granted, the movie does contain some poetic cinematography, but pretty close-ups of flowers and bees does not make the story any better or more exciting - it just makes the film pretentious and boring. In my opinion, watching this movie is a complete waste of 90 minutes. Life is too short for stupid movies like this one.And c'mon Uma - why are you in this movie???