Sunday, July 3, 2016

THE AGE OF ADALINE   3.2****

          The story is about Adaline Bowman ( Blake Lively) who was born in 1908, married, had a daughter and lost her husband, then has a car accident when she is 29 which, due to highly unusual circumstances, causes her to stop ageing. She becomes a mysterious young woman who hides her true identity.  To protect herself and her daughter (played by Ellen Burstyn) Adaline lives a secret unassuming life - until she meets Ellis (Michiel Huisman) a young, charismatic, wealthy man who immediately takes a liking to Adaline. The two hit it off slowly as he is impressed with her wealth of detailed knowledge on just about everything and her unique wit.. At first, Adaline has her reservations about him, how can she lie about her identity and still be in an honest relationship with Ellis? But with some encouragement from her daughter, Adaline decides to let go. She and Ellis fall in love, but when Adaline joins him for a weekend at his parents' house, her past catches up with her in ways she could never have imagined and might alter the course of her eternal life, forever.
                                                                                                     
It's rare these days where we get a genuine romantic film with an interesting science-fiction aspect. You usually either get one or the other and seldom do the two ever mix. That's not the case with 'Age of Adaline' though. The screenwriters have brilliantly weaved both genres into a  narrative with strong characters and an easy enough plot without having to explain the sci-fi aspects throughout the film. In fact, the first several minutes of the movie has a narrator explain why this young woman in the early 1900s stops aging at 29.It's a fairly interesting and scientific explanation too, one that doesn't seem o farfetched. So instead of the film taking an entire two hours to tell us why she doesn't age, it's over and done with in the first few minutes of the film, and we get to focus on her life through the years to present day in 2014.          

The cast and their performances are excellent, especially those by Blake Lively and Harrison Ford. Lively portrays the character of Adaline with a keen understanding of the character. And she carries herself with an air of elegance  as if the role was  made for her, never hitting a false note from start to finish. While watching I couldn't help but think of Grace Kelly and the way she acted with that air about her that made you feel she was special. Harrison Ford, who portrays Ellis' father, is amazing. Ford shows a different side of his acting skills in "The Age of Adaline". His character creates a second layer to Adaline's love story with Ellis and twists the plot in excruciating and fascinating ways. With this film, Ford is very refreshing for a change, and the actor's performance is very touching and heartfelt.

“The Age of Adaline" beautifully and elegantly portrays what it might feel like to never age, to see those you love grow old and to be the only one to be left behind. It is a heartwarming  love story, that will cause you to ponder immortality.
Clark
 
PS: My wife, Sara, also enjoyed this movie which we both agreed was in the “feel good” category !!
PSS: This is a 2015 movie that you’ll have to find on Netflix or one of the other streaming channels or on demand… but it’s worth the effort.



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