Review of The Age of Adaline (2015) by Jeff B — 27 Dec 2016

Presenting not so much an Age-less epic romance as a harmless decades-spanning flirtation, Adaline fails to handle the themes of love or immortality with any lasting effect but some game performances at least ground the drama. An interesting story about the loves and losses of a seemingly immortal 27-year-old, Age of Adaline travels us through time but is not a time travel movie...though it almost qualifies. It plays with one of the same themes featured in the best of them, however: an inability to get close to someone as the sands of the hourglass slip away and separate them more and more. Even though it's science and fiction, the movie nonetheless strives more to be a romantic drama instead. Because it accomplishes neither sci-fi nor drama to any successful degree, however, the Age of Adaline falls far short of greatness. A gem of an idea in need of polishing, the script still manages to be entertaining. The title character's transformation gets explained away by phony baloney science, but (like Midnight in Paris' unexplained rift in time at the appointed hour) this plot point remains part of the proceedings' quirky charm. It's the heavy exposition-spouting narration that does more harm to the mind's eye.

In this PG-13-fantasy romance, a young woman (Lively) rendered ageless by an accident and forced to live a solitary life meets a man (Huisman) who might be worth losing her immortality for.

Blake Lively imbues the titular 80-year-old 20-something with appropriate amounts of grace and gravity in one fell swoop. Remarkable yet reserved, you believe she's weathered the ages. The fact that she throws more sparks with Harrison Ford (seriously, after following 42 with this superb supporting turn, he needs to do more hard-hitting projects of this ilk) than with young hunky Michiel Huisman is indicative of the flick's indecisiveness. Just as with its genre, it doesn't fully know what it wants to be or where it wants to end up. The theme of mortality gets lost in the fray but the journey keeps your interest despite this wrinkle in time.

Bottom line: Somewhere in Timey Wimey.