Written by Adam Mast
The Age of Adaline
As is the case with movies like “Field of Dreams” and “Forever Young,” “Age of Adaline” is one of those films that requires you buy into the magic of its central premise. If you can’t buy into it, then it probably won’t win you over with its intriguing plot developments and subtle charms. For the most part, I bought into it, and I attribute a lot of that to the winning performances.
In “Age of Adaline,” a luminous Blake Lively plays Adaline Bowman, a woman born at the turn of the 20th century who, after a horrible car wreck, finds herself afflicted with a most unusual condition. For reasons that are explained by way of a slightly intrusive voice over, Adaline stops aging. This unique affliction complicates her life in a myriad of ways, and ultimately Adaline chooses to live a solitary existence. While some might find the idea of never growing old a fascinating proposition, Adaline finds it to be more of a curse than a blessing.
What makes “Age of Adaline” interesting is that it isn’t a vampire movie, nor is it a sci-fi fantasy like “Highlander.” No, “Age of Adaline” is a romantic drama. As Adaline navigates her way through the difficulty of eternal life, her somewhat hardened exterior is breached by Ellis Jones (played by Michiel Huisman), a good hearted man who clearly believes in love at first sight. Adaline refuses Ellis’ advances at first, but shortly thereafter, her desire to love and her longing to be loved drastically changes her outlook on what appears to be a never ending future. A dramatic final act development only complicates an already complicated situation even further.
“The Age of Adaline” plays with time in a way that’s reminiscent of something like “Peggy Sue Got Married,” with a dash of “Back to the Future” and “Interstellar” thrown in for good measure, and rather than taking the sprawling, epic route like “Forrest Gump” or “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” this movie is fairly contained. It uses flashbacks sparingly and opts to focus mostly on Adaline and Ellis’ whirlwind romance.
The movie is fairly light in its approach. At one point, I questioned whether or not Adaline ever considered taking her own life in an effort to end what she perceives an eternal burden, but she doesn’t. Not only that, but the very idea is never even mentioned, and I found that—and the film’s overall lack of cynicism—quite refreshing.
Lively brings an elegance to Adaline Bowman, and I quite liked her here. Likewise, Huisman is very charming as the object of Adaline’s affection. Together, Lively and Huisman generate real chemistry. As watchable as they are, Harrison Ford virtually steals the movie outright in the second half as Ellis’ loving father. Ford hasn’t been this good in a long time, and his wonderful work here will certainly hold me over until his highly anticipated return as Han Solo.
Director Lee Toland Krieger (“Celeste & Jesse Forever” and “The Vicious Kind”) and crew have made a film that is unabashedly old fashioned in tone, but the “The Age of Adaline” might have been even more effective had there been less voice over and less scientific explanation for the cause of Adaline’s condition. Furthermore, a very strong final act is slightly offset by an all-too-quick resolution.
Still, there’s a welcome sense of whimsy and strong dramatic flourishes throughout “The Age of Adaline.” The film is beautifully shot by David Lanzenberg with a moving Rob Simonsen score at its center. Perhaps most importantly though, the cast, led by Lively, Huisman, Ford, Ellen Burstyn, and Kathy Baker, manages to bring the material to life by way of their heartfelt performances.
There were moments in this picture that were a little difficult to accept, but ultimately, “The Age of Adaline” works more often than not. It’s warm, well acted, and far more romantic than the “The Longest Ride” and “50 Shades of Grey” could ever hope to be.
