The Age of Adaline (2015)

The Age of Adaline is another of those movies I wanted to see but then completely forgot about its existence. A couple of weeks ago, I saw it was airing on TV and, since I had nothing better to do or watch (which is weird considering the perving I've been doing lately), I checked it out. 

It's 1937. Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) is a 29-year-old widower with a child. On a December night, she crashes her car and something impossible happens, she stops ageing. She lives a very solitary existence ever since, always running away and never allowing herself to get close to anyone. But one day, in the present, Adaline meets Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman), a charismatic, young philanthropist, and she regains passion for life and romance. Things get a lot complicated when Adaline meets Ellis's parents.

It's a quite original story, simple and yet very interesting and, though it unfolds in a rather predictable way --and it's pretty much your typical cheesy story with a happy ending--, it manages to keep you engaged until the end.

The romance, on the other hand, isn't as charming as the story. And the main reason is the two lovebirds. Ellis is the typical confident man who doesn't take no for an answer, and Adaline is the typical woman who falls for that kind of man. This kind of romance is everywhere but real life and it gets a little tiring seeing it on screen all the time. However, I cared about them and their romance and I surprisingly found myself rooting for their love, even though I already knew how it would end. 

There's something, however, that really took away from The Age of Adaline. It was the narration. Hugh Ross's voice is warm and nostalgic but it doesn't work here. It gives the film some sort of documentary feeling, and him trying to explain the science behind Adaline's accident makes the film less effective as a fantasy. I guess there's the reason they don't usually explain stuff in fantasies. Some parts of the narration though were good and involving. Still, I think it would have been better to avoid it. Or use Blake Lively's voice instead. Having her narrating her character's life instead of someone else.

Lionsgate

The cast too could have done a better job. First, I don't think the cast of Blake Lively as the leading lady was right. I don't know what it is, but there's something about her that always makes her characters unlikable. Also, her chemistry with Michiel Huisman was off. At least, she did pull me into the story, she carried the film and she embodied the elegance and grace of Adaline's era very well. Michiel Huisman is very good-looking, just like Lively, but he too failed to give a good performance. Harrison Ford, on the other hand, gives a surprisingly passionate performance as William Jones, Ellis's father, and every scene he delivered felt real. I was also impressed with Anthony Ingruber who plays young William Jones. He nailed the part of a young Harrison Ford (he should have been cast for Han Solo).