Review of To the Wonder (2013) by Travis H — 10 Apr 2013

There was a time when Terrence Malick made us wait years, sometimes decades, for one of his films to hit theaters. They became something of an event unto themselves, sometimes producing elegantly-composed gems like Badlands, Days of Heaven, and at least in this critic's opinion, The New World. Suddenly on a prolific streak, it's been less than two years between spiritual, meditative The Tree of Life and his latest film, To the Wonder, but he may have been better off letting this one simmer for a while longer.

When Malick is on the top of his game, his work is beyond reproach, the gorgeous cinematography lending weight and credence to what are absorbing ruminations on faith, love, and family. However, when his focus is less certain you get the utter randomness of To the Wonder, an indulgent flight of fancy so abstract and vague it's likely to blow away during one of Olga Kurylenko's numerous dancing scenes. That seems to have become the new standard for Malick's choice of lead female characters; how do they look prancing along wind-swept hills while the sun rains down on them from on high? Without any real soul or depth, for all intents and purposes Malick might as well be making a really elaborate perfume commercial.

Taking us from Paris and the Mont St. Michel in France to the Rockwellian wheat fields of Oklahoma, To the Wonder explores the fading relationship between a boring American geologist and the French single-mother he falls in love. Ben Affleck wanders around in a close-mouthed stupor as Neil, who we meet as he's sweeping through France with Marina, a single mother who seems to be utterly in love with life. The two quickly fall for one another, and we see them in the throes of their passion and ecstasy. This is what Malick really wants to show us, two gorgeous people in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and his camera eats up every dreamy moment. Poetic internal narratives occasionally spill forth, but mostly the film unfolds wordlessly, hoping that mood and the suggestive score will be enough.

Malick's approach works well enough until we're expected to follow the couple's mysterious descent into uncertainty. Leaving France for the comparative blandness of Neil's home in Oklahoma, it isn't long before Marina recognizes that a poor dinner in Paris always beats lunch at a Sonic drive-thru. She has no roots in America, and can't relate to ordinary farmer folk with their boring lives. Aimless, with no friends to lean on for support, Marina and her daughter grow unhappy quickly. The dancing stops, replaced by brooding and fights we're not allowed in on. When she ultimately leaves him, Neil takes up with an old flame played by Rachel McAdams. This is probably the most needless and baffling sequence of all, and would have made more sense if Malick had thrown in a few dinosaurs or exploding planets. Rachel McAdams turns up for a cup of coffee as Neil's former flame, and the two reconnect while doing nothing other than staring at buffalo all day. Then she just ups and disappears without so much as a "by your leave".

Quickly taking on the tenor of a Malick spoof, the film reaches ridiculous lows with the side story of a priest who is desperately trying to regain his faith. Javier Bardem is a terrific actor who can say more with his eyes than most can with a thousand words, but not even he can make sense of his character's meaningless ramblings. As we see him skulking around the poorest neighborhoods trying to shepherd his flock of sheep, it becomes obvious that his character serves no purpose.

Malick may be trying to draw some sort of parallel between people who are on shaky ground in matters of love and faith, but his characters are so thin that it's impossible to care. None of them feel real enough to matter. To the Wonder resembles the director going to the well once too often, incorrectly assuming that what has worked for him in the past will always be sufficient.