Roman
(Arnold Schwarzenegger) is devasted by the loss of his family when they are
killed in a mid-air collision. Jake
(Scoot McNairy) is the air traffic controller who was on duty when the accident
took place. Lonely, hurt, and shunned by
the unsympathetic airline, Roman turns his rage on Jake and sets out to make
him pay.
This
sounds like a roundabout Death Wish clone, but nothing could be further from
the truth. Aftermath is not your average
revenge movie. It is a dour, grim and
depressing tragedy that also happens to be quite moving and powerful. (It was also based on a true incident.)
Roman
ranks among Arnold’s best performances. The
moment we realize this isn’t going to be your typical Arnold picture is when he
receives the news his family is dead, and he faints. Now, we’ve seen Arnold knocked out, shot,
melted, and even bested by Batman, but I think this is the first time we’ve
seen him faint on camera. We’ve certainly
never seen him this vulnerable, ragged and wounded.
What
makes Aftermath so gripping is that Jake isn’t a bad guy. The accident was horrible, but it really isn’t
even his fault. He just happened to be
on duty when it happened. Try telling
that to Roman though.
Both
men are experiencing unfathomable grief. One is suffering the loss of immediate loved
ones. The other is feeling responsible
for a catastrophic loss of life. Both
flirt with the possibility of suicide but relent before giving themselves over
to death’s embrace. The scenes of both
men contemplating suicide are powerful and goes to show how they are forever
linked to the tragedy.
The
real villains are the airline’s lawyers who want to sweep the incident under
the rug and pay off the victims’ families. Roman doesn’t want any of that. He just wants them to apologize. And maybe look at a photo of his family. In the long run, it’s not that much to ask,
especially considering what happens in the end.
Even
then, the ending doesn’t go as you’d expect. You get a sense that maybe if Roman caught up
with Jake a few months sooner things, things would’ve gone differently. That’s what makes the ending a tragedy instead
of an ordinary drama.
I
have a feeling that if anyone other than Arnold was in the lead role, Aftermath
would’ve probably had some awards buzz.
It’s frank, grim, and unrelenting, and an excellent showcase for his
skills. Because Arnold was in the role,
it was probably dismissed for being just another action flick. Let me tell you, this is anything but. It’s a well-executed gut-punch of a movie. It would also make a good Arnold double feature
with Maggie as both films are about as bleak as they come.
AKA: 478.
AKA: Aftermath: Impact.
