The Age of Adeline Review
RYAN: This is a sci fi, romantic drama with a bit of fantasy that’s almost like a grown-up fairy tale, due to the narration. There’s a real storybook-come-to-life quality to this film. It’s enchanting, sophisticated and mature.
CHUCK: Yes I’d say it’s more fantasy than sci fi, even though it tries to use science to explain it.
RYAN: This is my favorite Blake Lively performance.
CHUCK: I haven’t seen her much. But this is the first time I’ve seen her in a starring role.
RYAN: This is her movie and it’s all on her shoulders and she carries it beautifully. She looks amazing and really carves a character in Adaline, very natural yet you can tell it’s not her. Harrison Ford is also very good in an emotional role.
CHUCK: And the guy who plays Ellis, Michiel Huisman, is really great. He’s from TV’s Game of Thrones, but was also in World War Z, Wild, and a bunch of other things.
RYAN: He’s beautiful and their chemistry is so winning. It’s those moments without dialogue where they’re just looking into each others’ eyes and you feel it that are so palpable. And the costumes are such a great part of the storytelling too.
CHUCK: Hers especially were timeless but also “of a certain time.” It looked as though her character collected pieces from over the decades and kept them, which I think was the point. It illustrates a woman who has lived a long time.
RYAN: The dates the couple go on were the most romantic aspect of it but the movie doesn’t really ride the romance. I feel like it’s much more of a subplot. It’s really more about loneliness, independence and trust.
CHUCK: And redemption. And forgiving the past. More romance might have been more interesting. The flashbacks were very quick. It does focus more on the story and her feelings in the moment. The cinematography was beautiful. It made San Fransisco look gorgeous.
RYAN: OMG it’s the best it’s ever looked in a movie. This movie makes you wanna live there. The only major drawback to the film is the voice of the narrator. He was awful.
CHUCK: I hated his voice.
RYAN: I think it was due to the narration that I went in and out of the suspension of disbelief during the movie. For most of it, I was fully engaged, but whenever his voice came on, I stopped believing.
CHUCK: In general, narration is a challenging thing use during a movie.
RYAN: I like when a character in the film does voiceover narration; but the best case of a straightforward narrator in a film is Little Children. Then I would use The Age of Adaline as an example of narration not working.
CHUCK: Yeah you have to go into this knowing you have to have the suspension of disbelief.
RYAN: It’s a beautiful film with a great whimsicality to it that would def be best experienced on the big screen.
Nathan April 24, 2015
Sounds like an amazing movie!