Review of The Age of Adaline (2015) by Luis C — 09 Feb 2016

In a series of weak links, the weakest link by far is the utterly incomprehensible romance between the two 'leads' (a term to be used loosely). Blake Lively, true to her name, manages to breathe life into a wooden character and had me rooting for her despite Adaline's utter lack of personality. Her 'partner' in crime, Ellis, served as sweet decoration in a corner but little else. To this day I haven't figured out how exactly his presence as a lead was justified, because apart from setting up the climax of the movie (between other people!), he is for all intents and purposes quite useless.

The true heart of this movie lies in the relationship between Adaline and William (Harrison Ford), who in their few short scenes together manage to pull off what Adaline and Ellis were supposed to do but ultimately failed at: they showed us a love-story worth rooting for. Since the movie is intent on forcing the ultimate Happy Ending, however, predictably nothing is of true consequence, the two set up lovers unite for reasons the viewer just may never understand, and an already more than shaky plot crumbles in the last few seconds as you wonder why exactly a 30 year old woman would suddenly grow a grey hair as she finally resumes ageing.

The whole film doesn't withstand closer inspection, the science is bogus, the characters flat, and the ending predictable, but nevertheless there's some truly wonderful moments that make the ordeal worthwhile. Occasionally.