(Minor Spoilers, though I'm careful here!)
So, I saw "Age of Adaline" Friday. It was very good, but not perfect. A bit of a chick flick, but the subject, extreme longevity without aging, is something I've written about in my flash fiction.
(Yes, this review definitely contains spoilers!)
Any fan of the show "Forever" or perhaps even the 90s show "Forever Knight" or the Twilight series will understand the concept of extreme longevity explored here, and I'm a very big fan of both those shows and the concept, so I was eager to see this.
Blake Lively was amazing as Adaline, and Harrison Ford performed well, too, in all his flustered brilliance. His character here has great depth, as I think only he could pull off.
In a minor but amazing role, newcomer Anthony Ingruber plays Ford in a flashback as a youth and just NAILS his looks and mannerisms (which he's actually done for years on YouTube before being discovered by the director!)
In Ford's great film "Blade Runner," the original, theater release had a voice-over, which was later cut by the director on DVDs. There, it was an under-appreciated homage to 1940s Film Noir movies. In Age of Adaline, however, the ever-present narration seems pointless at best, demeaning and overly expository at worst. And while it may have seemed necessary to fill out the story's scientific details, it's often talking down to the audience in a way that's unnecessary. Verbal exposition often took the place of something that would have been better acted. And everyone who saw the previews already knew she lived a long time. It should be cut in the DVD.
That said, the story progresses well, though I wished for more flashbacks and more rye indications that she had acquired vast knowledge of her hometown - elements that add charm and a bit of humor. A date at an old movie theater, for example, was a charming scene.
It's beautifully filmed, and Lively's wardrobe is a painful reminder that women used to dress elegantly in their daily lives. I wish they still did (Adaline never gave up dressing well for 100 years and it added to Lively's already stunning looks.) I could have done without the pet storyline, but only because it struck a personal chord, as it will for any pet owner. It illustrated her sense of loss quite beautifully, and asked, without actually asking: How would it feel if everyone you had ever known had died, decades ago, and you were afraid to get close to, or even date anyone, as a consequence? Great post-date or dorm room discussion material here!
Very few flaws or goofs to note here. Some include: Why did Ford's character need that photo - it didn't prove anything. She seems to remember an event in 1906 but she wasn't even born until 1908. Why did she keep going back to that same city, where she would risk being recognized by people just 25 years older than she had been on a previous sojourn there? And wait - wouldn't her new man be grossed out knowing what he finally learned about the Ford character, to whom he was RELATED?
The very end (comet) is deeply flawed and confusing, leaving the audience with a big "huh?" (I suspect that a 2031 scene was cut, or was never filmed) and the narration during the "accident" before it that changes her physical situation is again unnecessary. It's as if people are so dumb they'd miss what was happening.
Overall, a worthy film about an interesting topic, filmed beautifully. Go see this!
