In Clint Eastwood's most recent film, his three main protagonists deal with the question of "What happens after we die?" but also struggle with what we do here on Earth, when those we love have passed on. It is definitely not one of his greatest flicks, but does explore some material that appears to be only lightly trod in a culture that focuses more on the here-and-now, rather than what might be ahead of us. For some in the movie, this life is all there is, but for those with a glimpse into a possible eternity, their lives and actions change in light of that idea.

Plot One: We are introduced to Marie, a well-known journalist on a romantic vacation with her boss, when out of nowhere, a tsunami comes and changes everything. (As a side note, this DVD is not being sold in Japan right now, because of their recent horrific tragedy, but proceeds from the sale of this film will go toward aid for the country. The scene is not over-dramatized at all, and seems very realistic, so I can definitely see why the people behind the film chose to do so.) Marie is then thrust back into her normal life, but the experience and new revelations cause her to doubt her prior calling, and seek out answers of her own, no matter what the cost.

Plot Two: Matt Damon plays George Lonegan, a man with the gift/curse to speak with people who have died, but who wants to move on from this to try to lead a normal life. He is a solitary man who doesn't push people away on purpose, but he's been forced into the life he now lives by the nature of his profession. When one more shot at love and a regular life presents itself in the form of Bryce Dallas Howard's spunky character, Melanie, George will do anything he can to deny his powers and try for some type of normalcy.

Plot Three: Young Marcus and Jason are twins living in England, constantly covering for their addict mother. The two have such a close friendship and bond that, when death pulls the two apart, Marcus cannot function on his own without some sort of closure in his life. Forced to live with a foster family, his new goal is to try to find a way to speak to his brother in order to try to move on in some way. This leads him to all kinds of phony psychics and false palm readers, as his journey takes him further from those close to him.

Inevitably, the three will obviously cross paths, and it seems like it takes an eternity for it to ever happen. It doesn't seem like an American-style film in many ways, which can be a good thing, but I personally didn't have the patience for it. A third of the movie is in French, with English subtitles, and I wasn't quite ready for that either. The movie crawls along, in pretty standard Eastwood fashion, but unfortunately the ending payoff isn't quite what I'd hoped for and no mountains were moved, or no divine insight discovered. Despite some pretty interesting subject material, and some cool directions it could go, the movie still leaves you with a "so what" feeling, and doesn't give you the satisfaction of a fulfilling ending.

The Blu-ray extras are pretty phenomenal though, especially if you are a hardcore Clint Eastwood fan. The feature "The Eastwood Factor," narrated by Morgan Freeman, is over ninety minutes, and like a mini movie in itself. The documentary takes a look at Eastwood and his legacy of films, spanning his fifty-six year career, includes interviews with Eastwood and other filmmakers, providing behind the scenes footage from huge hits like Dirty Harry, Unforgiven, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. There are plenty of movie clips, stories from the sets, and looks into his mind, as we have a pretty complete anthology of his many impressive works.

Also included are some very interesting featurettes that go behind the scenes of the movie. Particularly fascinating is the clip on how they shot the tsunami scene, how they studied footage from the 2004 disaster, and the various ways they shot in the ocean, on green screen, and in a ninety degree tank of water. You can also watch a featurette that interviews various psychics, mediums, and people who have studied near-death experiences. It was especially interesting how there was so much continuity from case to case in people interviewed.