Review of To the Wonder (2013) by Roman R — 12 Apr 2013

Terrence Malick much like say Quentin Tarantino is a style. One always has a sense of what to expect stylistically when entering the theater. A style does not make a film exempt from criticism though. To The Wonder is to Terrence Malick what Death Proof was to Quentin Tarantino. The ingredients and style are there but the movie just goes on and on without giving the viewer a reason to care.

I will admit To The Wonder is beautiful to look at and will get you itching to visit a place like Paris. Much like The Tree of Life , To The Wonder is carefully crafted scene by scene exotically. There is a feeling of hypnosis when watching the film regardless of if characters are just prancing around or interacting with a character or the environment. That feeling is amplified once again with a heavy usage of quick cuts and editing that make scenes that would last for minutes in other films mere seconds here. As always Terrence Malick has a vision and you will get as much as you try to comprehend.

An all-star cast is once again here featuring Ben Affleck , Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, and Javier Bardem. Everyone plays their part well , especially Olga Kurylenko who makes for a wondrous narrator. Oddly enough it's Ben Affleck who seems miscast though as there isn't much for him to do here as he's silent and almost emotionless throughout the entire movie. I don't know if his presence was necessary but it's always a pleasure having Affleck around these days.

The plot and narrative structure are the kicker here though. All the positives above are rendered meaningless if the viewer can't get wrapped up into the philosophical explorations of love and faith. The themes of To The Wonder come off as uninteresting and not as fully realized when compared to Tree of Life. To The Wonder actually feels like a retread of that film. After viewing Tree of Life I was compelled to rewatch it and craved a deeper understanding of the film. To The Wonder has unlikable characters that mostly just repeat mistakes. Unless you're a devoted fan of Malick's work I can't imagine many coming away wanting to delve deeper into the wonder.