Rating: 
Summary: Before and After rules!!!!
Review: It is my personal opinion that the motion picture entitled "Before and After", rules!!!
Rating: 
Summary: WOW!
Review: Talk about intense! I was sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next. The plot is great and the acting is amazing. What's not to like? There's also the fact that they make it more creative by having the little sister narrate the story. This was one of the best movies I've seen this year.
Rating: 
Summary: Toothless story
Review: The great shame of this movie is that it veered so terribly from the premise of the novel.Brown's novel was so gripping and emotionally difficult precisely because Jacob did murder his girlfriend in cold blood. We struggle with the family as they come to grips with this hard truth: a seemingly "normal" family can indeed produce a dysfunctional, disturbed child and educated, thoughtful parents are often powerless to understand why. All of the dramatic power came from the adults struggling to figure out what to do with a son they don't recognize, and a younger sister knowing very well who her brother is but unable to share that information because the adults are interested in hearing it. The movie pulled the teeth from this story when it gave us the eleventh-hour confession of Jacob's crime as *an accident*. Good grief. The movie, which wasn't very good to start with, then collapsed into unbelievable, sentimental pap. My sympathies are with the author, who must have been appalled.
Rating:
Summary: Toothless story
Review: This could have been a riveting, thought-provoking film IF ONLY we understood why Edward Furlong's character was so troubled. There are no real indications of dysnfunctionality, only with the mention of the boy's fight with father Liam Neeson on the day the murder occurred. Also, the resolution is anticlimactic, with Julia Weldon's voiceover narration not adequately telling us exactly how the verdict affected the family.
Meryl Streep does a fine job as always, although Carolyn sometimes seem vacuous in her understanding of what her son has done; Liam Neeson overdoes his portrayal, yet has his moments, too; Edward Furlong does nothing to evoke sympathy in his wooden, James Dean like performance; Julia Weldon is very good in the role of the narrator/sister; Alfred Molina also does a great job in his role as the no nonsense lawyer.
Truth, is it important? Should one lie to protect a loved one? The movie never lets us know who to root for...it works mainly because of the beautiful setting and Meryl's presence is always worth watching.
Rating: 
Summary: HOLLOW CHILD
Review: This could have been a riveting, thought-provoking film IF ONLY we understood why Edward Furlong's character was so troubled. There are no real indications of dysnfunctionality, only with the mention of the boy's fight with father Liam Neeson on the day the murder occurred. Also, the resolution is anticlimactic, with Julia Weldon's voiceover narration not adequately telling us exactly how the verdict affected the family.
Meryl Streep does a fine job as always, although Carolyn sometimes seem vacuous in her understanding of what her son has done; Liam Neeson overdoes his portrayal, yet has his moments, too; Edward Furlong does nothing to evoke sympathy in his wooden, James Dean like performance; Julia Weldon is very good in the role of the narrator/sister; Alfred Molina also does a great job in his role as the no nonsense lawyer.
Truth, is it important? Should one lie to protect a loved one? The movie never lets us know who to root for...it works mainly because of the beautiful setting and Meryl's presence is always worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, but not wonderful
Review: This film was enjoyable (except my constant temptation to smack that little girl) but it lacked some inner tang that would make it a truly moving and shattering film. Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep are in fine form here. The lawyer and the son are excellently portrayed, and the constant twisting keeps your interest. But, as the poet said, there is something lacking.
Rating:
Summary: OH... WHAT A WEB WE WEAVE, WHEN FIRST WE PRACTICE TO DECEIVE
Review: This is a film that had a great premise going for it and, consequently, should have filled the screen with some semblance of suspense and drama. Unfortunately, as others have sagely pointed out, it resonates like a made for television movie, despite the stellar cast. The film takes place in a rural area of Massachusetts, where an artist by profession, Ben Ryan (Liam Neeson), and his doctor wife, Carolyn (Meryl Streep), live with their two teenage children, Jacob (Edward Furlong) and Judith (Julia Weldon). Unbeknownst to Ben and Carolyn, Jacob is carrying on with the town's junior vixen. Things come to the fore when the young woman is found dead, and their son disappears. Naturally, things do not look good for Jacob. The well respected Ryan family suddenly find itself cast in the role of the town pariah, shunned by many of the local yokels. Ben takes things into his own hand upon discovering evidence that would implicate Jacob in the girl's death and destroys that seemingly inculpatory evidence. When Jacob is apprehended and returned to face charges, the Ryans, upon the advice of a local attorney and friend, Wendell Bye (John Heard), obtain an experienced criminal defense attorney, Panos Demeris (Alfred Molina), for their son. Thereafter, Ben and Carolyn proceed to disregard everything that the attorney advises them to do. Moreover, they each do their own thing with respect to their son's interest, much to his detriment. Ben comes across as a somewhat unlikable and doltish, single-minded character. While Carolyn, who seems to have a moral compass and knows the right thing to do, comes across as a foolish woman who neglects to include her son's attorney in the equation. Moreover, Liam goes and does exactly the opposite of what the attorney suggests, thinking that he knows better, as does Carolyn. The only ones in the Ryan family who are likable are our erstwhile killer and his sister. Edward Furlong gives an excellent performance as Jacob, a young man who acts inappropriately when faced with what can only be characterized as a terrible tragedy, one that he did not foresee but perhaps should have. He ultimately finds his own moral compass, despite his father, and manages to make his troubled character sympathetic. Meryl Streep gives a sanctimonious and priggish performance, barely able to rise above the banality of her character, while Liam Neeson's performance is best characterized as that of a bellowing bull in a china shop. Angelo Molina gives a an smoothly adept performance as the canny defense attorney who knows only too well what lies ahead for his hapless client, given the antics of Jacob's idiotic, though well-meaning, parents. This is a drama that should have held the viewer spellbound, but which, instead, succeeds only in irritating the viewer for the most part. Moreover, the ending is absolutely ridiculous. The filmmakers should have had a legal consultant on the payroll, preferably one with a working knowledge of criminal law. If they did, then they should consider suing whoever advised them so poorly.
Rating:
Summary: Wasted potential - plot and cast
Review: This is one of those films that actually had a decent concept and a good cast, but somehow lost its way on the road to the cineplex. The premise - that of parents trying to protect their son, accused of murder, from being unfairly punished (and how that backfires) - is actually a perfectly good idea. And the cast is primarily comprised of very good actors, including Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, and Alfred Molina. So what went wrong? The story isn't strong enough, for the most part. It has the pacing of a TV movie, with a new emotional peak every five to ten minutes, and some completely superfluous arguments and conflict just to keep the tension level high. Whether Edward Furlong's character committed murder is revealed halfway through the film, and after that, there's very little interest left - you're left to sit back and wait for events to spiral into a tailspin, with the inevitable bittersweet ending. Also, the characters are rendered fairly two-dimensional; the father (Neeson) is highly-strung but willing to do anything to protect his son, while the mother (Streep) is more conflicted but prone to simply...being baffled and helpless. There is a little bit of room for depth, but the scripted characterisations are simply too shallow to be saved. Even Edward Furlong's pivotal character, the son - who should arguably be the most well-developed of them all - can be quickly pigeonholed and filed away. Last of all, for some really strange reason, this film was and is being promoted as a mystery/thriller. It is neither of these. It's more along the lines of a tense (melo)drama, with very little mystery or thriller elements at all. It's more likely to give you a knot in your stomach than goosebumps.
Rating:
Summary: This movie you have to see!!
Review: This movie is great!! Edward Furlong plays a great actor in this movie!! I have seen his other movies, and this is his best!! Merill Streep is also awesome in this movie!!
Rating:
Summary: A Sobering Believable Drama.
Review: When a Married Couple (Two-Time Oscar-Winner:Meryl Streep & Liam Neeson) discover that thier teenage son (Edward Furlong), who may have murder or accidentely murder his girlfriend. When he runaway from the Law, years have Passed and they find him and now he has to go in Court to Prove that his Innocence or Guilty. Directed by Barbet Schroeder (Single White Female) made a Believable Drama. Strong Performances by Streep, Nesson and Furlong highlight this Flawed film. This was a Box Office Disappointment in Theaters but the film did well on Viedo. It`s not a Perfect film but it`s well made. Screenplay by Oscar-Winner:Ted Tally (The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon) Grade:B+.
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