The Age of Adaline

Nicholas Sparks for adult female viewers and male viewers with nostalgic inclinations and a weakness for old things. We don’t often see a film that gains importance by pretending to be an adaptation of a novel. A branching narrative, a lot of characters, numerous flashbacks and an omniscient narrator with a very bookish form of expression are not the most appropriate means of making a smoothly and naturally flowing romantic film. Definitely not in the hands of two neophyte screenwriters with outsized ambitions. The Age of Adeline could have been an excellent melodrama in the classic mould (an externally characterised, passive and suffering female protagonist, flawless characters versus the relentless passage of time, many happy and unhappy coincidences, the inability to express one’s feelings) if it had stuck to relationship issues and not tried to deal with the infinite nature of the universe and the unpredictability of fate in addition to emotional conflicts. The result is a hybrid literary-film structure with the outline of a novel and sufficiently rich content, but without a sufficiently broad thematic scope. There is no justification for the sweeping nature of the narrative and, because of that, the film has no momentum. At its core, it is basically a fairy tale, which corresponds to the slightly surreal creative style (especially the lighting of certain scenes, as well as the narrative shots with the camera hovering high above the actors’ heads). The film is visually graceful and enchanting in its naïveté, and Blake Lively gives the protagonist the proper old-fashioned flair (not only in the dresses that she wears, but also in the way that she moves and expresses herself) without coming across as artificial. However, I see her main contribution in her willingness to go against the anti-aging trend and to admit that it us unnatural to not age. It is such a praiseworthy, yet banal and so little seen presentation of things on the right scale that I want to forgive the film for its fake depth and the would-be sophistication of the structure that bears this message. 70% (08/05/2015)

An unconventional romantic film that boasts a particularly original premise and a likeable cast featuring Blake Lively, Harrison Ford, Kathy Baker, and Ellen Burstyn. It would certainly be wonderful if we could stay "forever young", but nature has done it justice and one of her laws is natural aging, so there is no danger of watching our loved ones and friends pass away without aging a day. What I liked about the film was how the different time periods in Adaline's life were interwoven (not just) through flashbacks, as well as the incorporation of the comet motif. In short, a nice and sweet film that is a nice pleasant of drama, romance and mystery. (09/07/2015)

I really liked the whole idea, but unfortunately towards the end, it lost a little bit of its momentum for me and it was too much in line with what is expected from an American romantic movie. There were no surprises and I think the whole potential of the idea wasn't utilized. Nevertheless, it is one of the most beautiful romances I have seen from the United States in recent times. (08/03/2015)

After a long time, a good quality romance that won’t be forgotten and might become a genre reference, such as the The Notebook. Audio-visually beautiful, bordering on slightly tacky, but the sophisticated storyline and an atmosphere of the fateful and inevitable passage of time in a human life make it into a love story that will tug at your heartstrings. The “science fiction” element that starts the story is not jarring, but rather gives the film a dreamy storybook charm. The film would have been even better with a young Meryl Streep, but Blake Lively’s performance is enough and her feminine fragility and beauty adds the right romantic charm. A good role for Harrison Ford is also something nice to see these days. Almost five stars. (07/31/2015)

A very, very beautiful film. A smart tale about the fate of love and inevitability in human life that grabs you by the heart not only with a sweet story that incorporates a sensitive sci-fi plot, but above all with its magical atmosphere of fatefulness and the simple but compelling, and very distinctive narration. The result is not overly sweet yet tasteful, and very, very touching. Plus the gorgeous Blake Lively and the eternally likeable Ford. 85% (11/25/2015)