The plot of Before And After is a good idea, but is ruined by the trite treatment given here. Liam Neeson (Ben) and Meryl Streep (Carolyn) turn in surprisingly weak acting jobs here. It gets boring real fast. Personally, I was annoyed by the obvious attempts to manipulate viewers into sympathizing with the Ryan family, for instance when Martha (Jacob's girlfriend) was portrayed as selfish and promiscuous, and when Martha's mother was shown as ugly, bitter and snipy in contrast with saintly Carolyn. The postcard device was also confusing and contrived, and the lawyer was too much of a stereotyped caricature. The only character I cared about was Judith (Jacob's sister), as an innocent victim of the rest of the family's panicked stupidity. Too much oversimplified moralizing, not enough character development. A timewaster.
