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Age of Adaline, 2015
Born in the early 1900s, Adaline (Blake Lively) lives a relatively normal life until a freak accident halts her aging. Forced to live a life of deception, moving every so often to avoid suspicion, Adaline's world is shaken up when she begins a romance with Ellis (Michiel Huisman). Things are further complicated when it turns out that Adaline and Ellis's father (Harrison Ford) have a history together.
This was overall a sweet and engaging fantasy romance, though its mix of genres didn't always work for me.
On the positive side, the lead performance from Lively is very engaging. She plays a great mix of someone who is vibrant and yet forced into a life of caution and even paranoia. Huisman is also good as Ellis, to the extent that the writing allows (though more about this later). The film's real ace in the hole is Ellen Burstyn, who plays Adaline's daughter Flemming, very much grown up and forced to pretend that she is her own mother's grandmother.
I also enjoyed the look of the film, which is polished and dreamy and makes the most of warm tones and fun costumes.
At its best, I thought that the film did a great job of showing how such an immortal life would lead to moments both wonderful and painful. A sequence in which Adaline looks back at a scrapbook of all the pets she has lost really pulled at my heartstrings. As she looks at it, she laughs and cries. Preparing to leave for a new state, she adds herself (under a fake name) to her bank account, remembering decades old conversations from the same office. Playing a game of Trivial Pursuit, she feigns not knowing an answer, but when goaded proves she has a fabulous memory.
Where the film didn't entirely sell me was in the romance. For starters, Ellis was way too aggressive and intrusive at the beginning. He follows her into an elevator in a move that is straight out of a horror movie. When she later very clearly is like "I'm done for the evening" he continues to persist. He finds out where she works and then (sort of joking but also . . . not joking?) threatens to withdraw a $50,000 donation unless she goes on a date with him. He gets her home address from her workplace(?!?!?!?!?!?!) where he has sway because of his wealth, and then shows up at her home unannounced. Huisman does a good job of selling charisma and also some raw sex appeal, but Ellis as a character was a bit of a flop for me. As written he's kind of smarmy and arrogant, and Huisman's charm just barely rises above this. Like after decades and decades this is the guy making her have second thoughts about her life?
I also thought that the resolution was kind of cheesy and I cringed as they tried to make it "science-y". It was all too parallel and convenient and just felt contrived.
I feel like I'm giving slightly lower scores than usual, but is it too much to ask that a film have a good premise and stick the landing?
Age of Adaline, 2015
Born in the early 1900s, Adaline (Blake Lively) lives a relatively normal life until a freak accident halts her aging. Forced to live a life of deception, moving every so often to avoid suspicion, Adaline's world is shaken up when she begins a romance with Ellis (Michiel Huisman). Things are further complicated when it turns out that Adaline and Ellis's father (Harrison Ford) have a history together.
This was overall a sweet and engaging fantasy romance, though its mix of genres didn't always work for me.
On the positive side, the lead performance from Lively is very engaging. She plays a great mix of someone who is vibrant and yet forced into a life of caution and even paranoia. Huisman is also good as Ellis, to the extent that the writing allows (though more about this later). The film's real ace in the hole is Ellen Burstyn, who plays Adaline's daughter Flemming, very much grown up and forced to pretend that she is her own mother's grandmother.
I also enjoyed the look of the film, which is polished and dreamy and makes the most of warm tones and fun costumes.
At its best, I thought that the film did a great job of showing how such an immortal life would lead to moments both wonderful and painful. A sequence in which Adaline looks back at a scrapbook of all the pets she has lost really pulled at my heartstrings. As she looks at it, she laughs and cries. Preparing to leave for a new state, she adds herself (under a fake name) to her bank account, remembering decades old conversations from the same office. Playing a game of Trivial Pursuit, she feigns not knowing an answer, but when goaded proves she has a fabulous memory.
Where the film didn't entirely sell me was in the romance. For starters, Ellis was way too aggressive and intrusive at the beginning. He follows her into an elevator in a move that is straight out of a horror movie. When she later very clearly is like "I'm done for the evening" he continues to persist. He finds out where she works and then (sort of joking but also . . . not joking?) threatens to withdraw a $50,000 donation unless she goes on a date with him. He gets her home address from her workplace(?!?!?!?!?!?!) where he has sway because of his wealth, and then shows up at her home unannounced. Huisman does a good job of selling charisma and also some raw sex appeal, but Ellis as a character was a bit of a flop for me. As written he's kind of smarmy and arrogant, and Huisman's charm just barely rises above this. Like after decades and decades this is the guy making her have second thoughts about her life?
I also thought that the resolution was kind of cheesy and I cringed as they tried to make it "science-y". It was all too parallel and convenient and just felt contrived.
I feel like I'm giving slightly lower scores than usual, but is it too much to ask that a film have a good premise and stick the landing?