Review of To the Wonder (2013) by Duncan K — 22 Apr 2013

Even the best filmmakers falter. That's the best way to describe the latest from maverick director Terence Malick (Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World, The Tree of Life), To The Wonder, a beautifully shot, emotionally empty exercise in bewilderment. Plot-heavy its not, as is typical of Malick's films. To The Wonder has lovers Neil (Ben Affleck) and Marina (Olga Kurylenko) walking the Normandy beach together near the monastery of Mont St. Michel. 'Love makes us one,' she tells Neil.

If you say so. When the two of them, Marina being a Ukrainian divorcee who's made a life in Paris, move into Neil's Oklahoma home, Marina's 10-year-old daughter, Tatiana (Tatiana Chiline), of course joins them. All seems well at first. Neil is keeping busy with his job as an environmental inspector while Marina becomes friends with Father Quintana (Javier Bardem), a Catholic priest having a crisis of faith. When Marina returns to Paris, Neil reconnects with old flame Jane (Rachel McAdams). It's all so lackadaisacal and stilted it devolves into emotional malaise, with everyone seemingly trapped in their own bubbles. It helps some that its shot with gorgeous plays of light and shadow by the great Emmanuel Lubezki. the actors are fine, I guess, although Affleck seems to get pushed out of sight as the film goes along. Malick seems more interested in his female stars, but I wasn't all that interested in anybody. The fact that To The Wonder also starred Rachel Weisz, whose scenes and role were cut, illustrates that all sorts of actors find working with Malick a rich and rewarding experience. I'd say Weisz's absence is a good thing for her.