Jackson Booth-Millard
I mainly found out about this film because of it being joked about in one of the EE Kevin Bacon adverts, I knew it was something to do with stopping your heart or dying, so I was certainly interested in watching it, directed by Joel Schumacher (Falling Down, Batman Forever, Phone Booth). Basically medical school student Nelson Wright (Kiefer Sutherland) is fascinated, having spoken to various people who had near death experiences, e.g. during childbirth, during an operation, to discover what lies beyond death. Nelson convinces four of his classmates: Dr. Joe Hurley (William Baldwin), David Labraccio (Kevin Bacon), Randall "Randy" Steckle (Eraser's Oliver Platt) and Dr. Rachel Mannus (Julia Roberts), to help him experiment. Nelson has his heart stopped, he flatlines for one minute, before his classmates resuscitate him, while "dead" he experienced a sort of afterlife, which included strange visions, of a boy he bullied, all he says is that he cannot describe what happened, but something does exist. With the experiment a success, the other four students one by one follow this daring feat, including extending the flatlining an extra minute each, they too have strange visions of an afterlife. Joe flatlines next, he experiences an erotic afterlife, he agrees with Nelson that something does exist, and David is third to flatline, he sees a vision of a black girl he bullied in school. The three men start to experience hallucinations related to their afterlife visions, Nelson ends up beaten up, Joe is haunted by home videos of women he slept with and secretly recorded, David sees the little black girl who verbally taunts him like he did to her. Rachel decides she wishes to go ahead with the experiment, David tries to stop her from having the same fate, but he is too late, Rachel nearly dies permanently during a power cut, the defibrillator paddles do not work, but she is revived, she too is haunted by visions, with the memory of her father committing suicide when she was young. They may have proved a theory with the experiment, but the three men talk to each other and reveal their harrowing experiences, David decides to put his visions to a stop, he finds the black girl now grown up, Winnie Hicks (Kimberly Scott), he apologises to her, she accepts, and he feels a weight has been lifted. David finds Nelson beating himself, he thinks it is the boy he bullied grown up, Billy Mahoney (Joshua Rudoy), doing it, meanwhile Joe's fiancée Anne Coldren (Hope Davis) breaks up with him, after discovering his videos with other women, his visions stop after she leaves, and Rachel seeks comfort with David, they make love, while Nelson in a graveyard reveals to Randy and Joe that he killed Billy Mahoney as a child, he then leaves them stranded. David leaves Rachel in order to rescue Joe and Randy, while alone Rachel has a vision of her father (Benjamin Mouton), he apologises to her, her guilt over his death is lifted when she discovers he was addicted to heroin. Nelson calls Rachel saying he needs to flatline again in order to make amends, he apologises for involving her and the others in the stupid plan, he has been dead for nine minutes when the other three join her and race to save him. In the afterlife Nelson dies from being stoned by the boy he bullied, his friends cannot revive him, they are about to give up, but David gives him one last shock and he is brought back, Nelson says "Today wasn't a good day to die", it is unclear if they tell anyone about their experiments. Also starring Aeryk Egan as Young Nelson, Kesha Reed as Young Winnie, Jim Ortlieb as Uncle Dave, John Joseph Duda as Young David, Afram Bill Williams as Ben Hicks, Deborah Thompson Duda as Terry, Elinore O'Connell as Rachel's Mother and Sanna Vraa as Bridget. The cast all do their parts fine, the concept is certainly interested, the question of what happens after you die is definitely one scientists are still curious to know the answer to, unfortunately the afterlife stuff and haunting visions the characters have are clichéd, it is supposed to be chilling with all the supernatural strangeness, but I just felt a little bored, I can't see myself watching this sort of film again, a weird but bearable I suppose science-fiction psychological thriller. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing. Okay!
Predrag
Flatliners is a remarkably audacious, wildly original exploration of one of the taboo topics of science and religion. As far as direction, acting and suspense are concerned, few films rival Flatliners in its all-around splendor. Underneath a deceptively linear and seemingly simplistic script, there is much symbolism and underlying subtlety to be found in Schumacher's brilliant vision. This is without doubt an intriguing premise and the movie does well to focus on the horrific hallucinations that the group experience rather than on the religious connotations.Yeah, there are some medical and technical aspects that do not make logical sense, but if you are willing to suspend disbelief just a tad, this can be a very engaging film. First, a note about the artistic quality of the movie. Some have complained about the murky lighting, and the illogical nature of the sets - but for me, the use of innovating lighting techniques, the plastic and sheet draped sets, the unusual settings in old buildings and dank, dripping tunnels, the use of statuary, rain and billowing curtains - all add a poetic flavor to this film, a haunting beauty that suits the dark nature of the questions being asked about life, death and forgiveness.However, this could have been done better, and there are several holes in its plot such as the innocence of children and whether they really deserve to be haunted by what they did when they were younger. Plus the fantastic cast can all be remembered in better roles, especially Kevin Bacon, who is outstanding with whatever role he's given. Still, 'Flatliners' is entertaining enough when it resides in horror, and if it's placed in this genre then it's relatively intelligent.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
