Independent Cinema writes: With 2011′s The Tree of Life, I was completely confused by the positive reception it had received. It felt like a Terrence Malick film, designed only for Terrence Malick to enjoy. With To The Wonder, nothing has changed, except that Malick has eradicated any interesting ideas from his previous film and boiled it down to one over-arching theme: love. How does that love manifest itself? Where can we find it? Is it guaranteed that we will find it? Unfortunately for To The Wonder, it is too broad of a topic and most of the characters are not developed enough to truly appreciate their situations. Because of this lack of development, the film ultimately becomes a series of beautifully shot scenes, that are just as enigmatic and ambiguous as love itself.
Entertainment Fuse writes, "The rhythm and pace of the movie ebbs and flows in accordance with the protagonist’s relationship. There are many moments of joy and bliss, but they are accompanied by disappointment and disillusionment. There is longing but an equal amount of inability to attain one’s desires."
Jeremy of The Daily Rotation wrote, "Visionary director Terrence Malick returns just two short years after The Tree of Life to tell another grand story, only this time focusing on relationships, love and the meaning of forgiveness. To the Wonder has been said to be Malick’s “Tree of Love” reaction to The Tree of Life, but aside from his trademark visuals, the film is much more distant and empty. To the Wonder is Malick’s weakest effort yet, blending together middling performances with beautiful locations. The film never quite adds up to anything more than a Malick demo reel of footage."
There are those who will get it and there will be those who won't. There are bigger ideas here, bigger questions to ask, more beauty and mystery if you just remove yourself from your preconceptions and how a movie "should be". Look closely and you will find meaning and purpose behind To The Wonder and it is a profound one. The same with The Tree of Life. A certain maturity and spiritual awareness is needed when watching a Malick film. Open your eyes and ears and experience the wonders of life.
*This was the last movie review Roger Ebert filed
Roger Ebert
Released less than two years after his "The Tree of Life," an epic that began with the dinosaurs and peered into an uncertain future, Terrence Malick's "To the Wonder" is a film that contains only a handful of important characters and a few crucial moments in their lives. Although it uses dialogue, it's dreamy and half-heard, and essentially this could be a silent film — silent, except for its mostly melancholy music.
Yeah, it would've stuck for anyone to have something like The Host be their last movie review.
"There will be many who find "To the Wonder" elusive and too effervescent. They'll be dissatisfied by a film that would rather evoke than supply. I understand that, and I think Terrence Malick does, too. But here he has attempted to reach more deeply than that: to reach beneath the surface, and find the soul in need." ...the last paragraph Roger Ebert ever wrote.
a movie with ben affleck, rachel mcadams and directed by terrence malick is a good way to end eberts long and glamorous career as a film critic. the review was a positive so i guess it will deliver when i watch it.
