Saturday, August 20, 2016

The Age of Adaline

When I first heard the premise of "The Age of Adaline" (Blake Lively plays a woman who doesn't age) I thought it was intriguing. Then the reviews came back rather bland and it moved off my radar screen.

But it kept popping up on Amazon Prime Video, and one day I was bored and needed a good movie, so I started watching it, planning to get through a few scenes at a time over the next few days.

I ended up making my husband join in watching it with me, and we stayed up past our 'bedtime' to finish it.

It is a beautiful film. Nostalgic, funny, sweet, and very romantic. There are a few sad parts (especially if you are a dog lover!), but overall it leaves one feeling positive at the end.

The cast is great--and not just because Harrison Ford plays a pivotal role. Blake Lively has come a long way from "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants" and she is backed up by Michiel Huisman (Orphan Black, Game of Thrones) as her love interest and Ellen Burstyn (House of Cards, Intersteller) as her 'looks older but is actually younger' daughter. It is fascinating watching how Lively plays old in a young body, and as a costumer I especially enjoyed watching her styles change over the years (but never lose a timeless quality). There is a framing 'scientific' explanation that thankfully doesn't take itself too seriously, and a minimal amount of 'content' (PG-13 for a little sex and one rather gruesome wound stitching scene, and probably some language that I've already forgotten).

The ultimate romantic resolution is satisfying within the film, but I found myself wishing for a novel to explore the depths of the character thought and motivation further.

A good watch for the nostalgic and the romantic.

2 comments:

Shaylynn said...

My roommates and I watched this together--my roomie who loves dramatic romantic films, really enjoyed it. My other roomie couldn't get over the ridiculous "scientific" explanation and it just started everything off on the wrong foot, because she couldn't stop laughing throughout the ENTIRE movie and every little thing which was dramatic or lovely was just HILARIOUS to her. :) It was a fun experience but it's hard to really get into a movie when your friend is giggling during romantic conversations. :P

Elizabeth Amy Hajek said...

Oh man, that sounds very distracting!!!!! Yeah the scientific explanation was... hit or miss, lol. But you needed some explanation in there, you know? I am not sure what would have worked better.