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The Age of Adaline (2015)
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Cast: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Anthony Ingruber
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
About: Adaline Bowman is a young woman born at the start of the 20th century. At age 29 a freak accident stops her aging process, keeping her forever young. But she pays a heavy price for eternal beauty.
Review: I love films that cover this type of subject matter: a person who's apart from the world and seemingly has it all and yet doesn't. This type of story gives the director a chance to explore a wealth of emotions, from loneliness and regret, to altruism and wisdom. All that which makes up humanity can be revealed with a finely crafted fantasy story.
In The Age of Adeline the director had the opportunity to hold up to the lens a beautiful, never aging woman named Adaline and through her show us something of ourselves. This movie is so ripe for the sublime and the important. It's possibility are limitless. So why in the hell did the director piddle away his chance with an uninspired script, that takes no chances and explores next to nothing.
I kept waiting for something important to happen. I thought for sure a revelation or a goose bump moment would occur. But instead the majority of the movie is padded out with inane small talk as we follow Adeline and see if she will fall in love or not. I have nothing against a good romantic movie. Pair romance with an existential movie and you could have a rare film that speaks volumes.
The Age of Adeline ain't that film. The romance part bombs in part because Adeline is wooed by a creepy, rich stalker guy. OK sure he's suppose to be handsome and altruistic with his wealth...but he freakin stalks her. He stakes out where she'll be and shows up in advance and won't take no for an answer. He won't leave her alone and that ain't romantic. And to make the romance part worse, the two have zero on screen chemistry.
Blake Lively isn't a well known name. She's certainly a beauty and in a classy unique way. She has great screen presences and with a different director could have shined. But the director gives us a vision of a woman who is stilted and non too personable and that's too bad because she's our window into what it would be like to never age while never being able to tell anyone or form lasting relationships. The movie tells us these things about her, but only in a cursory way. We never experience them vicariously. Blake needed to bear her soul, instead she looks maniquesque. It's probably the directors fault for not getting her to open up more.
Michiel Huisman is not well known either. Here he's just lack luster, more goofy than charismatic. Which makes the romance part unworkable. The audience needs to fall in love with the couple as they fall in love themselves. In the movie The Time Traveler's Wife, a similar theme occurs of a troubled, unrequited love, but in that movie the romance works. Here it doesn't.
On the bright side is Harrison Ford. Even though Harrison's screen time is limited he make the most of it by giving the only inspired performance in the movie. I could feel his pain, his loss and his joy at seeing Adeline. It's too bad the story wasn't focused on Harrison Ford, Blake Lively (Adeline) and Anthony Ingruber. Anthony Ingruber is the young actor who knocked it out of the ball park with one helluva good impressionistic acting as the young Harrison Ford. I'd like to see more of him on the screen.
Another plus is, there's no gratuitous violence, no foul language and the film looks stunning. But the voice over narration is gawd awful and intrusive, and unnecessary.
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Cast: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Anthony Ingruber
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
About: Adaline Bowman is a young woman born at the start of the 20th century. At age 29 a freak accident stops her aging process, keeping her forever young. But she pays a heavy price for eternal beauty.
Review: I love films that cover this type of subject matter: a person who's apart from the world and seemingly has it all and yet doesn't. This type of story gives the director a chance to explore a wealth of emotions, from loneliness and regret, to altruism and wisdom. All that which makes up humanity can be revealed with a finely crafted fantasy story.
In The Age of Adeline the director had the opportunity to hold up to the lens a beautiful, never aging woman named Adaline and through her show us something of ourselves. This movie is so ripe for the sublime and the important. It's possibility are limitless. So why in the hell did the director piddle away his chance with an uninspired script, that takes no chances and explores next to nothing.
I kept waiting for something important to happen. I thought for sure a revelation or a goose bump moment would occur. But instead the majority of the movie is padded out with inane small talk as we follow Adeline and see if she will fall in love or not. I have nothing against a good romantic movie. Pair romance with an existential movie and you could have a rare film that speaks volumes.
The Age of Adeline ain't that film. The romance part bombs in part because Adeline is wooed by a creepy, rich stalker guy. OK sure he's suppose to be handsome and altruistic with his wealth...but he freakin stalks her. He stakes out where she'll be and shows up in advance and won't take no for an answer. He won't leave her alone and that ain't romantic. And to make the romance part worse, the two have zero on screen chemistry.
Blake Lively isn't a well known name. She's certainly a beauty and in a classy unique way. She has great screen presences and with a different director could have shined. But the director gives us a vision of a woman who is stilted and non too personable and that's too bad because she's our window into what it would be like to never age while never being able to tell anyone or form lasting relationships. The movie tells us these things about her, but only in a cursory way. We never experience them vicariously. Blake needed to bear her soul, instead she looks maniquesque. It's probably the directors fault for not getting her to open up more.
Michiel Huisman is not well known either. Here he's just lack luster, more goofy than charismatic. Which makes the romance part unworkable. The audience needs to fall in love with the couple as they fall in love themselves. In the movie The Time Traveler's Wife, a similar theme occurs of a troubled, unrequited love, but in that movie the romance works. Here it doesn't.
On the bright side is Harrison Ford. Even though Harrison's screen time is limited he make the most of it by giving the only inspired performance in the movie. I could feel his pain, his loss and his joy at seeing Adeline. It's too bad the story wasn't focused on Harrison Ford, Blake Lively (Adeline) and Anthony Ingruber. Anthony Ingruber is the young actor who knocked it out of the ball park with one helluva good impressionistic acting as the young Harrison Ford. I'd like to see more of him on the screen.
Another plus is, there's no gratuitous violence, no foul language and the film looks stunning. But the voice over narration is gawd awful and intrusive, and unnecessary.
Lovely to look at but nothing to hold.