24. Hereafter (2010)

Director: Clint Eastwood

You can't fault Clint Eastwood for having a lack of ambition when it comes to his 2010 snoozer Hereafter. The film's premise is a very lofty one, dealing with various characters' views and firsthand experiences with the afterlife. It does so with more visual trickery than the legendary actor-director is known for or has ever practiced.

Good intentions can only take a filmmaker so far, though. The problem with Hereafter is its structural unevenness, opening with a harrowing, emotionally potent tsunami but then settling into an alternately preachy and plodding gab-fest before closing with strong interpretations of what lies beyond the grave. There's an exceptional movie hidden somewhere within Hereafter—if only Eastwood realized that in the pre-production stage.