Some films make it clear in the first five minutes that they are not going to be any good. Aftermath is one of those films. But it turned out to be a different sort of bad film than I’d originally thought.
We open on a building site, where Roman (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a manager. One of his employees makes a small mistake. “You’re fired!” jests Roman, and Schwarzenegger proceeds to give one of the most unnatural and lengthy laughs that I have ever seen on film. You get the joke right? Because he hosted the Celebrity Apprentice for one season! And “You’re fired” is an Apprentice catchphrase! Hilarious!
It’s a truly horrendous way to open a film, awkwardly written and awkwardly executed. But it gave me hope that Aftermath would at least be an entertaining kind of bad film, despite its upsetting subject matter. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
The Plot
As he’s waiting to pick up his wife and pregnant daughter from the airport, Roman is taken aside by an airline official and given devastating news. The plane his family were on crashed mid-air with another aircraft, killing everyone aboard. Roman is understandably distraught, and infuriated that no one in the airline will admit their culpability.
Jake (Scoot McNairy) is also devastated by the news of the mid-air collision, but for vastly different reasons. He is an air-traffic controller, and it was partially his actions that led to the horrific result. Learning that he was at least partially responsible for the death of 271 people causes him to undergo a mental breakdown so severe that his wife (Maggie Grace) is powerless in her attempts to help.
Roman and Jake struggle separately to come to terms with their grief and their guilt. When they finally meet, as it is clear they must, events take another unpredictable turn.
Nothing Happens, And Then Everything Happens
There are countless films where nothing major happens that are still brilliant. Some examples include Lost in Translation, Slacker, and Paterson. Though these films don’t contain any big plot points, there’s still a lot going on: humor, character development, interesting dialogue, and beautiful visuals.
In Aftermath, however, when I say nothing happens (at least until the end of the film, which I’ll get to in a moment), nothing happens. There are just two men dealing with their issues in a variety of grey-tinged settings. In living rooms and offices, conference rooms and building sites, Roman and Jake sit and brood. Their brooding isn’t shot with any particular verve, nor illustrated with any insightful dialogue. With the exception of a typically commendable turn from Maggie Grace as Jake’s beleaguered wife, there aren’t any notable characters for the two men to interact with.
There’s a degree of bravery in the resolute lack of action that runs through most of this picture. And perhaps a better director, or a better writer (though I’m loathe to criticize Javier Gullón too much, as he was responsible for scripting the brilliant Enemy) could have wrested something more out of the situation. But rather than being as deep as something that deals with such important human issues should be, Aftermath is remarkably shallow. There is nothing to Roman and Jake beside their grief, and their guilt. They don’t seem like real people.
What makes this particularly galling is that they are! Though the locations have been changed, and the events juggled around a little, this film is based on the 2002 Überlingen mid-air collision. And yet it feels as manufactured as any other Schwarzenegger-starring blockbuster.
After more than an hour of nothing happening, fifteen minutes before the end of the film there’s a sudden act of violence, and then a rush of plot points. It’s as if director Elliott Lester has realized that he forgot to put anything at all in his film, and then proceeded to cram everything into the final stretch. It’s a dizzying tonal shift, and it does not work.
Arnie and Scoot
By far the strongest component of Aftermath is the acting of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Scoot McNairy.
As has often been the case lately, Arnie plays very much against type. He gives a quiet, internalized performance, suggesting much more of an inner life than he usually manages to. A couple of his line readings are actually very moving. Lester clearly trusts him to deliver the goods; when Roman is told the awful news, Lester stays tight on Schwarzenegger‘s face, and we watch him process it in what feels like slow motion. Other than that ill-advised Apprentice reference I mentioned earlier, he is consistently convincing. This late-career change of direction continues to be an interesting journey to follow.
Scoot McNairy, though, is on another level. When he’s told what his actions have inadvertently led to, he looks ready to collapse, and from then until the end of the movie, he is a visibly broken man. There’s so much going on in his face, that whilst watching him, you can sometimes forget how little there is going on in the rest of the movie. He deserves better than Aftermath.
Conclusion
Fine performances can only do so much without the screenplay or the direction to back them up. There’s only so long you can watch an actor sit in a room and simulate (however convincingly) grief, without yearning for more. The lack of an insightful screenplay, or well-drawn characters for Schwarzenegger and McNairy to work with leave Aftermath seeming empty and, frankly, dull.
Elliott Lester had the source material and the actors at his disposal for a phenomenal exploration of guilt, grief, vengeance and forgiveness, but what he produces is a maudlin bore.
If you’re interested in the undeniably fascinating story that Aftermath is based on, your time would be better spent reading any one of the countless articles written about it. There’s no point wasting it on this movie.
What’s your favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger performance?
Aftermath is out now in the UK and the US. For more international release dates, click here.
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