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Age Of Adaline, The
The Age of Adaline is a romantic-drama with a sci-fi element. The story focuses on a woman named Adaline Bowman who stops aging after an accident. The story occurs across several decades of time in telling her story. The film was written by J. Mills Goodloe (The Best of Me) and Salvador Paskowitz (Nic & Tristan Go Mega Dega). It was directed by Lee Toland Krieger (Celeste & Jesse Forever).
Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) was in a tragic accident when she was 29 years old. Instead of passing on something strange happened because of the accident: she stopped aging. Adaline eventually had a daughter named Flemming (Ellen Burstyn), who eventually started to look as old as her (and then older). Over the decades, Flemming started to become old while Adaline remained young. The life of Adaline was certainly a strange one.
Adaline eventually decides to give up on having relationships. Then one day she meets Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) and her world is changed. Ellis enchants her and makes her feel a romantic relationship can happen again. They start to fall in love with each other. Adaline decides to go with Ellis to meet his family. She discovers that Ellis's father is William Jones (Harrison Ford), who she was in love with decades ago. She also meets Kathy Jones (Kathy Baker), Ellis's mother, and Kikki Jones (Amanda Crew), his sister.
As the story unfolds, the film takes a fable-like approach with narration (by Hugh Ross). The story ponders the ageless immortality of Adaline and whether or not she will ever be able to grow old and if she can have a relationship with Ellis. The film explores her relationship to William Jones and Ellis Jones.
The film has some notably impressive performances from the cast. The lead role is well-suited to Blake Lively, who delivers a strong performance that is one of the best aspects of the film. The supporting performance by Harrison Ford is especially great and is one of his best in years. It's remarkable how well Ford does in The Age of Adaline. The film should have explored Ford's role even more as his part is one of the best aspects of the entire film.
There are a lot of noteworthy elements to the production. This is a lavishly produced film with some grand production elements. The music score composed by Rob Simonsen (The Way Way Back, The Spectacular Now) is lush and smooth. The cinematography by David Lanzenberg (Celeste & Jesse Forever, Paper Towns) is remarkably complex and beautiful to behold. The production design by Claude Pare is fascinating for its effective combination of period and modern-day sensibilities. The art direction by Martina Javorova helps the film to look visually superb. The costumes designed by Angus Strathie are lavish and fashionable throughout.
The screenplay written by J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz has a great concept and is highly effective at times. The fable-like quality to the story is impressive and adds something magical to the film. The character journey is an interesting one as Adaline lives through many decades. This is an ambitious screenplay covering several time periods. The romantic element of the screenplay is a bit less effective given that the story between William Jones and Adaline is more interesting than the primary one with William's son Ellis.
Lee Toland Krieger has made a visually stunning film that features impeccable craft. The film is impeccable from a production standpoint. Krieger also brings forth good performances from the cast. A large part of the reason the film works as well as it does is because of Krieger's vision. The style of the filmmaking is superb throughout. Overall, The Age of Adaline works as an interesting sci-fi romance through the strong effort by Krieger.
The Blu-ray:
Video:
The Age of Adaline is presented in a 2.40:1 widescreen aspect ratio. This 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encode is stunning. This is a superb high-definition experience. The cinematography by David Lanzenberg is phenomenal. The colors are beautiful to behold. The clarity of the presentation impresses throughout. This is a sleek and modern film presentation.
Audio:
The audio is presented in lossless Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 surround sound. This presentation impresses with good surround usage and strong fidelity. The score by Simonsen sounds superb. The sound design is excellent and is well utilized throughout. The film has a strong audio presentation.
Subtitles are provided in English, English SDH (for the deaf and hard of hearing), and Spanish.
Extras:
Audio Commentary with Director Lee Toland Krieger
A Love Story for the Ages (30 min.) is an extensive making-of featurette with interviews with a variety of production members (including the director, screenwriter, cast, and more).
Style Throughout the Ages (18 min.) covers some of the production aspects of the film, particularly the costumes designed by Angus Strathie and the hair and make-up work.
Discovering Young Harrison Ford: Anthony Ingruber, an Online Sensation (8 min.) is about the actor who performed as young William Jones in the film. The actor was successful at making impressions of Harrison Ford and ended up cast as the younger Harrison Ford. Director Lee Toland Krieger discusses his impressive debut.
Deleted Scenes (5 min.) includes two sequences cut from the film.
Final Thoughts:
The Age of Adaline is a fascinating fable which combines science-fiction, drama, and romance. The performances from the cast are strong with Blake Lively and Harrison Ford being particularly noteworthy. Director Lee Toland Krieger has crafted an impressive film from an ambitious screenplay by J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz. The Age of Adaline isn't perfect but it certainly is one of the more interesting and unique films of the year.
Recommended.
Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema. He aspires to make movies and has written two screenplays on spec. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.
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