Flatliners

An intriguing premise in search of a compelling movie, Flatliners follows a cadre of ambitious medical students (Kiefer Sutherland’s Nelson, Julia Roberts’ Mannus, Kevin Bacon’s Labraccio, William Baldwin’s Hurley, and Oliver Platt’s Steckle) as they embark on an experiment to discover if there truly is life after death. Filmmaker Joel Schumacher delivers a fairly compelling opening stretch that seems to promise a creepy, thrilling horror flick, with the movie benefiting substantially from its affable cast and strong (if occasionally distracting) visual sensibilities. And yet Flatliners remains unable to wholeheartedly capture the viewer’s interest for the duration of its occasionally interminable running time, as scripter Peter Filardi delivers a meandering and repetitive narrative that often feels episodic in its execution (ie the story lurches from one participant’s post-experiment experiences to the next with little thought of a bigger picture). By the time the decidedly anticlimactic final stretch rolls around, Flatliners has squandered its strong setup to become nothing more than a truly (and disappointingly) forgettable medical thriller.

** out of ****