Movie Review: Is Anybody There?

Another movie that I watched in the plane. Is Anybody There? is a story about a boy named Eddie (Bill Milner) who grows up in a house full of old people. This movie explores broken relationships and how it affects people's lives in a different way. The story might be a bit boring, however if you understand what the filmmaker trying to tell us, it becomes so interesting. Michael Caine is playing as Clarence, the retired magician who ends up living in Eddie's house.

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Every kid must want a home where he can play freely and spend most of the time with his own family - and no one else. What happened if old people are living in your house? Well, this is the case that Eddie lives in.

His parents decided to transformed their house into old people's home. The result is that the parents are so busy taking care of the elderly. They have so little time for each other. Thus, this makes little Eddie so upset. He doesn't have so much space to play anymore, he has to give up his room for a newcomer old person and he does not have that quality time with his parents anymore. He does not receive enough attention from his parents and he does not have friends in the school. 

His obsession, uniquely, is about ghosts and paranormal. He even places a tape recorder under the bed of every dying elderly person. He wants to know what happened when the soul leaves the body. This odd interest for young kids might have grown because Eddie is ignorant. He does not have enough love. He does not have a good relationship with anyone. This also causing him to be a rebel and get mad easily.

The fascination of paranormal fades away when he met Clarence (Michael Caine). Eddie found out that Clarence used to be a very famous magician. Later, Eddie started to like magic. But that doesn't mean he forgets about ghosts.

Clarence is a man who cannot leave his past. The problem was unclear at first, but then we know that he has a bad memory with his wife. In one scene, he said to Eddie, "You don't come back, son. Once they've gone you can't talk to them. If I could say I was sorry... What a difference that would make." From then on, we know that Clarence has regretted something. And that is he was making an affair with other women. His wife left Clarence because of this. She died before Clarence got the chance to say sorry. This bad memory has stuck into Clarence's mind and life.

Clarence is living in the past. But it is not only him. If we look closely, all the old people in the house are living in the past. There's an old lady who still puts on her dancing shoes and a retired soldier who always talks about war. This might and might not happen to people who are getting old. But I think, the filmmaker is trying tell that we have to move forward. Living in the past is not going to make things better.

The movie portrays stressful situation such as: the ignorant kid who constantly yelling "This is my home!", a broken relationship between Eddie's parents because they both have so little time for each other and an old man who is haunted by regret. However, the movie has a happy ending: Clarence is finally forgiven (Note: he's actually not forgiven by his wife. It was Eddie's mom who said the forgiveness. In one scene, Clarence was like lost his memory and thought Eddie's mom is his wife), Eddie's parents are back together and Eddie finally left his childish obsession and he becomes more mature by trying to understand other people and respecting them.

There's actually a lot more that I want to discuss about the movie. The movie seems like an ordinary story, but the filmmaker put in many messages in it and make a lot of connections between one scene to another. That what makes this movie so interesting. But I bet you wanna just make your own interpretation.

If I could, I would give an applause for the filmmaker, Michael Caine and Bill Milner. The story is just plainly amazing. Michael Caine has a very emotional and moving character. While Bill Milner is really talented. Bill Milner reminds me a lot of Freddie Highmore back then when he played in Five Children and It. Young, talented and they both have similar look!