Genre: Drama
Released: 2008

This is one of those films that you will walk out of just feeling very shaken up and disturbed. If there was thing I love about going to the movies, it is going to see flick that I knew nothing about. I love just watching a film that I have never seen a trailer for because everything is a complete surprise. All I knew about this film was the cast and that it was a limited release movie; meaning that it only opens up on a few hundred screens and then they take the success rate of the limited release to see if they should expand it. A perfect example of a limited release expanding was Juno, which started off in a measly 29 theatres across the US and ended in well over a 1000 theatres and did over $130 million in theatres alone. Will that happen with The Life Before Her Eyes? I am pretty much going to go with a "no" on that one, but that doesn't mean it is a bad film. A lot of films get stuck in limited release hell and go unnoticed; i.e. Before the Devil Knows Your Dead, The Assassination of Jesse James, to name a couple. The Life Before Her Eyes stars Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill), Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe, Thirteen), Eva Amuri (Saved), Brett Cullen ("Lost," "Friday Night Lights") and John Magaro.

(This plot description will not ruin anything about the movie. It is detailed because I am setting up the story for you). The movie opens up as a happy-go lucky high school film where we meet two best friends who are doing the normal teenage thing; smoking weed, getting in trouble, etc. Diana (Rachel Wood) just became really good friends with the new girl at school Maureen (Amuri). They do everything together and they are both around 17 years old. One day, as they are walking to class, they decide to stop off in the bathroom to check their make-up. They start hearing strange noises and gun shots in the hallways. The door opens and in walks a student named Michael Patrick (Magaro). We see a dying professor on the floor next to him, bleeding to death. He walks in, holding his Ak-47 at both students. It is at this moment that both girls think they are about to die, but Michael gives them a choice. He literally asks them which one he should shoot. The movie cuts to black and fast forwards fifteen years and we meet Diana (Uma Thurman), who is now married with a child. The rest of the film is her dealing with what happened on that horrible day. We, the audience, still have no idea what went down in that bathroom. The genius part about the film is that they keep cutting back to that scene every once in a while and they give you more and more of it, basically making you beg to find out what is going to happen next. We also cut back to their friendship and get to see how close they actually became before that dreadful day, obviously creating and building a lot of emotions in the audience. Let me tell you this, there are a lot of twists and turns in the film.

Overall, this is definitely one of those movies that is not for everyone. The film is directed by Vadim Perelman (who also directed House of Sand and Fog, which I absolutely hated). The reason I bring him up though is that I wanted to point out how amazingly well this film was shot. It had some of the most vibrant colors I had ever seen on screen. It was like a Tim Burton film, but not as edgy. He opened with the film with flowers blooming and shots of bees at close-up range. As the film went on though, the colors became less and less vibrant. It was a very interesting touch.

This movie will have you guessing until the very end. You really want to know what happened in that bathroom on the day that Michael Patrick came in and murdered the entire school. The director and writers did such an unbelievable job of keeping you guessing until the final shot of the film.

Thurman had a very decent performance. She is definitely a very interesting actress to watch on screen. Sometimes she does feel a little awkward. The real star of the film though, is Evan Rachel Wood. I hope she turns into a huge star at some point. She has already been in three great movies that I have thoroughly enjoyed. If you haven't seen Across the Universe; you should check it out.

I give this film 4 BDKs because it is definitely worth a matinee viewing. The cinematography alone is worth seeing on the big screen; let alone the riveting the storyline. It will definitely hit you hard and you will be thinking about it after it's over. I love those types of movies though.