FilmGamesEtc - The Age of Adaline, directed by Lee Toland Krieger (Celeste and Jesse Forever) isn’t the first romantic drama to borrow fantastical concepts in order to reach a wider audience. The Curious Case of Benjamin, About Time, and Meet Joe Black have all used similar supernatural elements to elevate their respective stories to varying degrees. The Age of Adaline attempts to tell a modern-day fairy tale about an ageless woman, Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively), struggling with the mortality surrounding her while never having to face it herself. Regrettably, the film gets sidetracked with Adaline’s predictable and unengaging romance with the philanthropic millionaire Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman).
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I have to disagree with this review. I'm not into romance movies normally but taking my other half on a date she wanted to see this so I happily took her. I found the movie really good.
"We are never allowed to see Adaline have fun with or embrace her gift, which provides the film with a very somber and dour atmosphere."
There is a very clear reason we don't see her embrace or have fun with her gift. The movie makes it VERY clear she is afraid of her gift and being discovered. Which is why she ran from the FBI and why in the first 5 minutes of the film it establishes that every 10 years she moves to a completely different location with a completely new name and changes her looks so even if she does run into someone she can go unnoticed or say she is just the daughter of herself.
Your negative of not seeing enough backstory isn't right. Sure I would love to see all thee different eras she lived in but if she is afraid of her gift and she even says she doesn't care for history, showing all this would completely contradict her character and ruin the movie. The movie is about her finally letting love back into her life and allowing herself to live for once in the past 80 years. We see enough backstory to know about her and give us insight into certain actions that are paralleling her life in the 60s and the history between her and Harrison Ford's character (who I agree did an amazing performance which was really the only reason I was okay going into the movie).
It was a really good movie, nowhere as bad you paint it to be but this was well written.
Ryan DeMarest - Thanks for the comment and thanks for your perspective! I'm glad you enjoyed the movie; many other people have as well. I think the film's been getting pretty mixed reviews, with a lot of people completely on board, and some people who were less than impressed. Personally, I do enjoy a good romance and hoped for more when paired with a supernatural element. Without a strong romance between Adaline and Ellis (again, in my opinion), the film needs something more to make it stand out above the typical rom-com conventions...which is why I wanted some levity and more focus on her past. It doesn't make sense for the character or the story she occupies - you're right. After the movie, I was left unsatisfied, wanting the story/characters to be reworked. Not a horrible movie by any means, just could have done more to be effective in my opinion.
I do appreciate your thoughtful insight, and thank you again for reading and commenting!