In Review: "The Age of Adaline" (April 2015)

Time-travel romances are hard to market so it's understandable why you may have only heard of this movie once before, and had no idea it ever even got to theaters. Once again, this was an OnDemand find. (I highly suggested roaming those waters when you have a boring Friday night)

The Story

Adaline was born in the 1900's. She goes about her normal life -- getting married, having children-- when all of the sudden, everything changes. She gets in a car accident and wakes up to never age another day again. More like an eternal youth than an immortal potion. So she goes through life running away from everyone to keep her secret hidden. She changes names, hairstyles, but her heart remains very much the same.

One day, in modern time, she meets Ellis who turns out to be the son of a guy who she used to be in love with. Will this be the time she finally decides to stop running?

The Stars

Blake Lively is awesome in this movie. I remember her from the days of "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" when she was the fun-loving Bridget or the days of "Gossip Girl". But here, I barely recognize her. I almost mistook her for a more practiced drama actress like Reese Witherspoon. She is flawlessly able to pull off a manner of sophistication (like she lived 100 years ago) and a manner of grace (like she's lived 100 years). I hope to see Lively more in more drama roles that stretch her acting ability and the audience's idea of this talented woman.

The Message

I think the point the film was trying to get across was that life is short-- maybe not in Adaline's case, but in everyone else's. You can't hide from the mistakes you made in the past, and you can't let a single day go by where you run away from what you want or who you are.

Overall

What this movie was missing was a sense of urgency and tension. One of the best time travel romance films that I have ever seen is "The Lake House" (2006). The pair are separated by time and it is time that is very important to the demise or survival of their relationship. Throughout the film, we are given a little bit of hope that they have found the way around time, and then we are reeled back in, creating this tension. Then finally, when they do get together there is a great sense of release after a long struggle.

This movie doesn't have real tension. Sure, Adaline definitely had to hide her identity from the communist seekers, but our story isn't during that time. She's not really running from anyone, and we see no evidence that she really has to hide anymore. Sure, her predicament is a little awkward and revealing her secret would cause some discomfort but nothing life shattering. Her daughter even says, "No one's chasing you anymore." So why is she running? Why is she hiding? Why do we need to watch this movie?

My answer to that would be for Blake Lively. She really has come a long way in her career and this film is proof that she has a long glorious road ahead of her.

In reality, this movie would have worked better as a book. It would have allowed the audience to build up that tension and anxiety over time instead of having to skip threw it. There were moments that would have been fun to explore. Even the idea of a character having to adapt to each change of the century would have been interesting. But movies only allow for 2-3 hour windows of storytelling.

1.5 out of 4 Stars