The saga of the reluctant corpse
Anna (Christina Ricci) is dead serious that she's alive as the funeral director (Liam Neeson) hovers. (Anchor Bay Films)
After.Life
Running time: 103 minutes
MPAA rating: R (profanity, disturbing images, adult situations, blatant nudity)
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First-time writer-director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo successfully takes her audience to perhaps the scariest moment of human existence; that blurred line between life and death. Sadly, she doesn't play fair in the cinematic arena she's created.
If you think Christina Ricci was in a tough spot when she was chained up in her shorty-shorts by Samuel Jackson in "Black Snake Moan" in 2007, wait until you see what her character is up against here.
Anna (Ricci) teaches middle school in a small Midwest town (although "After.Life" was lensed in New York). She's got a boyfriend named Paul (Justin Long) she may or may not be about ready to marry and a nasty habit of driving off from an argument in a huff and a pelting rainstorm.
You've heard the expression "waking up dead"? That's exactly what happens to the groggy accident victim. When Anna stirs, she's about to be given last "wrongs" by creepy funeral director Eliot, portrayed with just the right amount of deranged sleaze by Liam Neeson.
According to the script that Wojtowicz-Vosloo wrote herself, Anna is quite deceased. Or is she? Maybe she's just stirring on the prep room slab because Eliot is a corpse whisperer of sorts.
I say "After-Life" doesn't play fair with its audience because the filmmaker could provide some clues as to whether her leading lady in a red slip is still among the living, but chooses not to. If she's alive, then why isn't she cold in the chilled room with nothing on most of the time other than a slip or, uh, nothing at all.
Frankly, I'm not sure "After.Life" could have been brought to the screen by a male filmmaker. Ricci's nudity isn't just blatant, it's flaunted to the camera more like a celebrity peep show than drama.
Ricci, a skilled actress, deserves better. She should choose roles more wisely next time unless she's really got some bills that must be paid.
Neeson, appearing as Zeus and releasing the Kraken in "Clash of the Titans" a few doors down in the multiplex, will likely not include this failed creep-out show on his list of credits either.
Some movies demand to be seen. This one, a blurred cross between psychological thriller and cheesy horror, makes it easy to disregard and move on down the movie house hall to something else.
Almost anything else.
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