The Age of Adaline
Starring Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford
Directed by Lee Toland Krieger
The Age of Adaline asks the probing question, ‘If you were a perpetually 29-year old Blake Lively, would life really be that bad? Apparently so in the story of Adaline Bowman (Lively), a woman who stops growing older after an accident and has stayed the same age for almost 80 years. The plot may seem silly on the surface but The Age of Adaline actually does a commendable job of illustrating the pains of watching a daughter grow older than her mother and the eternal loneliness of a solitary life. Several sequences depicting Adaline’s identity transformations over the years give the film some creative flair as Lively settles into her character smoothly.
There may be hope for love yet when she meets a present day, smooth-talking philanthropist (Huisman) who invites her to his parents’ estate for the weekend; this is where Harrison Ford shows up and basically steals the show.
The less said about his character’s past – let’s call it a twist – the better, but the movie attempts to soar above its initially sappy trappings and morphs into a genuinely compelling drama about lost love and the power of regret. Ford singlehandedly carries the wobbly narrative in the film’s third act and puts to rest any doubt about his current abilities as a formidable actor.
The Age of Adaline does hit some rough patches; some hard science-inspired narration awkwardly attempts to explain Adaline’s condition. Yet, however far-fetched the romantic fantasy may be, it still strikes some rather poignant chords.
