The Age of Adaline
Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger
Written by: J. Mills Goodloe & Salvador Paskowitz
Starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Kathy Baker, Amanda Crew, Harrison Ford, Ellen Burstyn
Drama/Romance - 110 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 23 Apr 2015
Written by: J. Mills Goodloe & Salvador Paskowitz
Starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Kathy Baker, Amanda Crew, Harrison Ford, Ellen Burstyn
Drama/Romance - 110 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 23 Apr 2015
I have a soft spot for movies about characters that neither age nor die; it’s one of those provocative narrative stories which I find as thought-provoking as others prefer superhero blockbusters or the next Star Trek installment. What tales like these always skip over though are the practicalities and logistics of living forever. Sooner or later, people are going to notice your lack of wrinkles and gray hair forcing you to move on before the quips about your youthful appearance become more serious. Writers and directors skip over the uprooting and moving phase because who wants to focus on the same problems as us mortals when you can focus on longer-range phenomena associated with the immortals. The Age of Adaline includes far more blue collar issues than its peers and it treads near a Nicholas Sparks line of over-sentimentality, yet Adaline remains a joy to watch with a phenomenal performance by its lead actress, Blake Lively.
Lively has presence. She alters her dialect depending on the decade even though she’s a born and bred San Francisco Bay area girl. Her tone is noticeably altered from a 1930s scene, or a ‘50s scene, and it is a pleasure to listen to in present times. She pulls off sounding like an old soul, a girl far more mature than her twenty-something face lets on. Director Lee Toland Krieger (2012’s Celeste & Jesse Forever) made a smart move to have Lively play almost different characters during her long life even though she is playing the same person. People probably do change from their 3rd decade in life to their 10th.
Lively has presence. She alters her dialect depending on the decade even though she’s a born and bred San Francisco Bay area girl. Her tone is noticeably altered from a 1930s scene, or a ‘50s scene, and it is a pleasure to listen to in present times. She pulls off sounding like an old soul, a girl far more mature than her twenty-something face lets on. Director Lee Toland Krieger (2012’s Celeste & Jesse Forever) made a smart move to have Lively play almost different characters during her long life even though she is playing the same person. People probably do change from their 3rd decade in life to their 10th.
Why is Adaline ageless? There is an accident and some narration explaining some scientific reasons about Adaline’s cellular structure getting frozen into place, but the reasoning aims to get a laugh from the audience, not its understanding. The movie is not about why Adaline does not age, but how she copes with it. That narrator by the way, Hugh Ross, has way more lines than your average voiceover gentleman. The Age of Adaline steps over the boundary of too much narration at times at the expense of learning through dialogue, but it’s only a brief distraction. It’s no worse for wear than some of the truly awful lines we get every now and then including this gem from Adaline during an intimate moment, “Tell me something I can hold onto forever and never let go.” Blech.
The man she is talking to there is Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman, 2014’s Wild). He is your standard, quirky, young internet billionaire whose only job is to make the world a better place through his financial largesse. Setting his sights upon Adaline unsettles her at first for she has learned throughout the years to keep her guard up; it’s not true love if only one of you grows old and dies. That scenario leaves only heartbreak for the survivor. Adaline learned that lesson the hard way back in the ‘60s when she abruptly disappeared from the life of the boy who wanted to marry her. I wonder if he will pop back up in this story.
The only person in on Adaline’s secret is her daughter, Flemming (Ellen Burstyn, 2014’s Draft Day), a product from Adaline pre-accident. Flemming is in her 80s now and perhaps Adaline gives Ellis an extra cold shoulder because she knows in not too much time, she is going to be really alone in life. It’s a moving scene to watch a white-haired old woman hug a vibrant young girl and call her mama. One theme I welcome from The Age of Adaline is it subtly calls attention to our world which revolves around a cult of youth. The films steps back and admires aged wisdom, yet still through the body of a model. This is Hollywood folks; they would never make a movie about a very plain-looking and bland ageless girl.
For the fashion conscious members of the audience, there will be a lot to chew on. Styles frequently change through the years as they must and present day Adaline looks like she incorporates a bit from each era in her look. There is an old sweater here, a purse which looks like my grandmother’s there, but I have nothing to offer you on its authenticity or if she pulls it off. My clothing and fashion knowledge is not even skin deep, but I’ll wager if you are piqued by the idea of integrating fashion from throughout the 20th century, you’ll want to see how the costume designer pulls it all together.
If you dig and dig, of course you can tear The Age of Adaline apart. You can do that with any movie in the magical realism genre. Adaline is not science-fiction, there is no gee-whiz technology or lab experiments checking Adaline’s blood for the answer to her longevity. It is a romantic drama through and through and even a tad manipulative as it aims straight at the tear ducts of the ladies in the audience. Ignore some of the more garish lines and there is a lot to like about Adaline, especially Blake Lively’s performance. I’ve seen a few minutes here and there of Gossip Girl, Lively’s old TV show, and never would have guessed an actress mired in that mundane affair could pull off this character. Bravo.
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