The creators of "Forrest Gump" made Tom Hanks young again in their new film. Is "Then. Now. Later" worth watching?

On December 12, Robert Zemeckis's film "Then. Now. Later" was supposed to be released in Russian theaters. Unfortunately, the movie has vanished from the release schedule, but it is available online. "Lenta.ru" discusses the experimental adaptation of the iconic graphic novel featuring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright.

In the place of every modern home, there once was a lawn where dinosaurs and ancient humans roamed. Nearby, significant historical events took place. Eventually, the lawns were removed, pits were dug, and houses were built, each of which has seen numerous inhabitants come and go. This is depicted in the overture of the film "Then. Now. Later." Against a static camera and the music of Alan Silvestri, entire eras pass by, with time slowing down and becoming more detailed as we approach our own days.

• Release Date: November 26 (digital release)
• Country: USA
• Duration: 2 hours 3 minutes
• Director: Robert Zemeckis
• Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly

Among the residents of the living room in a house built on the site of a dinosaur and Native American encampment are an inventor of a miracle chair with his wife, an amateur aviator with his family, and contemporary African Americans who are set to face COVID. However, all these narratives merely frame the story of a family that has lived in this house longer than anyone else. After World War II, shell-shocked veteran El (Paul Bettany) and his wife Rose (Kelly Reilly) moved in. Eventually, they had a son, Richard (Tom Hanks), who in turn married Margaret (Robin Wright). The young family intended to move out from their parents' home for years, but ultimately ended up living there for their entire lives.

Frame: film "Then. Now. Later"

The previous paragraph is a rough, ordered retelling of the plot of Robert Zemeckis's new film. In practice, the film actively avoids linear storytelling: windows and portals to previous and subsequent eras constantly open before the unmoving camera. The unusual form of "Then. Now. Later" is indebted to the original graphic novel by Richard McGuire titled "Here" (the film is titled "Here" in its original version). The writer and artist worked on this project for 25 years. In 1989, a small comic was published in RAW magazine, set in a single living room where inhabitants from different epochs mingled. By 2014, "Here" had expanded into a full three-hundred-page novel, which even had a special exhibition dedicated to its release at the Morgan Library in Manhattan.

The Russian title "Then. Now. Later" misleads viewers. The film by Zemeckis and McGuire's novel focus on the fixation of a point in space.

This simple device dictates the narrative style, becoming a framework for a formal experiment. Strictly speaking, if one were to change the title, it could be "Here, but not just now." This film primarily aims to reduce narrative gravity in favor of pictoriality. Yes, the painting may be somewhat schematic, but the attempt is, in any case, intriguing.

Frame: film "Then. Now. Later"

McGuire's opus was quickly deemed a modern classic, although, as usual, there were those who labeled the self-illustrating author a charlatan. In any case, it seems in hindsight that Robert Zemeckis could not overlook such remarkable material. The director of the "Back to the Future" trilogy and an Oscar winner for "Forrest Gump" has been tirelessly engaged in experiments in the third millennium. Each of them—be it "The Polar Express" or "Pinocchio"—threatens to bury his career.

However, Zemeckis's authority and his achievements from the late last century remain unshakable, so at 72, he is still determined to surprise. At least, to surprise himself.

Critics have long written Zemeckis off, so "Then. Now. Later" has been panned, seemingly without delving too deeply into the concept. The promotional campaign for the film, built around the reunion of the legendary "Forrest Gump" team—allegedly in honor of the film's thirtieth anniversary—also played a cruel joke. Besides the director and the lead actors (Tom Hanks and Robin Wright), screenwriter Eric Roth and the aforementioned composer Silvestri were involved. In reality, no one intended to resurrect the spirit of the 90s masterpiece. They simply needed to come up with some bait to entice viewers to watch a two-hour film with Tom Hanks shot with a static camera.

Frame: film "Then. Now. Later"

This isn't Hanks's first time participating in Zemeckis's experiments. He has already starred in the virtually one-man film "Cast Away," where he had to spend two hours interacting with a bloodied volleyball, and "The Polar Express," where the technology of motion capture was tested on him. This time, Hanks, along with his co-stars, undergoes digital rejuvenation. At one point, 68-year-old Tom looks almost like he did in "Big," while Robin Wright returns to the appearance of Kelly Capwell from "Santa Barbara."

Admittedly, a two-hour historical melodrama set in digital decor seemed from the outset to be an absurd and yet horrifically dull project. And from this perspective, Zemeckis's film indeed surprises. If only for the fact that it does not evoke despair. "Then. Now. Later" successfully overcomes the inevitable pull towards the genre of a television play. Strange, yet unusual editing decisions save the day. Zemeckis has abandoned some of McGuire's bold ideas. For instance, the scene where characters from different eras argue simultaneously did not make it to the screen. However, the very idea of historical permeability of the frame (let's call it that) has been adapted. And there is definitely something to it. It's certainly not a revolutionary discovery, but at least Zemeckis is clearly fascinated by exploring the possibilities of cinema while mainstream films lazily exploit the same linear plots.

Frame: film "Then. Now. Later"

As for the acting duo, which inevitably finds itself at the center of any discussion about "Then. Now. Later," the director long avoids turning his film into a conventional melodrama. In fact, the tearful genre only takes over in the final segment, where Wright and Hanks appear without digital masks to cast one last glance at the empty set. However, if we must choose from sentimental clichés, this film is not about the transience of all existence. Rather, it is about the fact that life never stops. It simply sometimes takes a breather.