Review: The Age of Adaline

The Age of Adaline

      The Age of Adaline is a love story the same way Forrest Gump is a love story.  It's really about the title character, but the central part of that character's story is falling in love.

      The Age of Adaline is about a woman who stops aging at 29 years old (in 1937).  The movie draws a lot of attention to the emotional cost of her gift: afraid to tell anyone her secret, she avoids lasting connections with people.

      I was able to attend a special advanced screening for the movie last night and I enjoyed it like I thought I would.  In my opinion the movie did have minor tonal issues (every time the narrator spoke I felt like I was watching Unsolved Mysteries), but this was very minor.  I didn't actually feel like I was watching Unsolved Mysteries.  I am just of the opinion that this particular narrator is better suited to criminal profiles on TV than love stories.

      All the actors did a fantastic job.  The heavy emotion was mostly left to Blake Lively and Harrison Ford (or maybe they just handled it better) but the new face, Michiel Huisman, also had his moments - it's just that the movie wasn't really about him.

      What director Lee Toland Krieger really does best is draw out these performances from his cast (again, especially Lively and Ford) that put you right in their shoes.  As an audience you know exactly what they're feeling, and you're feeling it with them.  This coming from a man talking about a love story.  Pretty impressive.

      Special mention should go to the entire art department and production team for really making the period scenes feel totally believable, and for making Adaline look more and more timeless as the decades passed.

      The Age of Adaline is about hope.  What can a woman hold on to when she knows everything around her will pass but she will not?  I think that's the question at the face of this movie.  I could be wrong.  But whatever the question was I had a good time watching the movie and getting the answer.  Tell me what you think on April 24th when the movie is released.  I recommend it.

      Big Shot Critic