“Hereafter” is the worst movie Clint Eastwood has ever made.

"Hereafter"

At Quality 16 and Rave
Warner Bros.

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Already a dud, it’s made worse by the heartbreaking fact you can tell Eastwood (“Invictus”) really thought he did a great job. That is to say, we can be certain after watching this film that there was nothing Eastwood didn’t oversee and decide himself, which makes it even more depressing that the movie has essentially no message at all.

Eastwood has been behind films as epic, profound and successful as “Unforgiven,” “Mystic River,” “Letters from Iwo Jima,” “Million Dollar Baby” and “Invictus.” Even though he’s 80 years old, women still find themselves captivated by his grizzly voice and eternally masculine aura. Most men in show business — actors, directors and producers — probably look at Eastwood’s IMDb page and dream about tasting just one ounce of the groundbreaking success he’s enjoyed.

But “Hereafter” is so egregiously over-directed and didactic, it even manages to make Matt Damon's (“Green Zone”) character unrelatable — something few directors have been able to do. While Eastwood has been known, and awarded by the Academy, for his relatively heavy-handed directorial style, this film is an example of what happens when the man in charge has had so much success it becomes impossible for anyone else to tell him that he’s making a terrible mistake, or that his project is going nowhere.

The film follows people with near-death experiences who return to their normal lives only to find out they can still communicate with and be influenced by the dead. And it's so full of possibilities for interesting dramatic turns and revelations that it almost seems like an accomplishment in itself to turn a story with this plotline into something so boring.

There are intriguing moments at the film’s outset, but the only potentially meaningful memories you’ll leave with have to do with the complexity and pain underneath the tough exterior of Damon’s character — a tension in male protagonists that Eastwood knows how to highlight no matter how uninteresting the story. Sadly, Damon is only on screen one third of the time, and when he isn't you’ll find it hard to keep your eyes open.

The people who have had near-death encounters are conflicted about their experiences and newfound abilities in different ways, with Damon’s situation being the most interesting. He has had this supernatural talent for most of his life and has grown to think of it as more of a curse. When people find out how serious his spooky abilities are, they routinely run from him, and he’s lived a lonely life because of it.

Regrettably, Damon’s conflicted relationship with his past, which is the only mildly entertaining aspect of the movie’s three interwoven plotlines, doesn’t end up teaching us anything. Nor are we provided any tangible sense of closure with the ending. “Hereafter” is like a terrible first draft of “The Sixth Sense” that lacked direction and purpose before rewrites.

For an Eastwood movie, it’s surprising how little there is to take away. This film beats us over the head, forcing us to listen to its message for two hours but, once we finally agree to listen, we’re shown how little the filmmakers actually had to say with their latest project.

Eastwood no doubt wanted “Hereafter” to spark questions about what really happens to us when we die, and what it would be like to talk to our loved ones from beyond the grave. But all he manages to do is show us that he hasn’t got many interesting opinions left.