The Age of Adaline [DVD]

If you haven't seen The Age of Adaline, you are missing one of the greatest film viewing experiences ever created in the annals of filmdom. It is a romantic journey and the performances of the entire cast is impeccable. There is something for everybody in the telling of this saga. You will be transported through a journey that will lift your spirits, enthrall you intellect, and reintroduce you to a Hollywood that has been absent for many decades. I love the cinema of the Golden Age and quite honestly have not kept up with most of the Hollywood films being produced these days. This film will draw you in and you will not be able to leave your seat until this charming, emotional and beguiling story is unraveled before you. Believe me. I love this film and I think it may be one of the greatest films ever produced in the entire history of American artistry. Buy it, watch it and be thankful we have Blake Lively creating a screen performance that will rival any romantic and thoughtful film ever made. I guarantee it!

This is such a great film! The Blu-ray in this package has great picture and sound. DVD untested.

A+

Lee Toland Krieger did a great job directing The Age of Adaline. It has a unique, original story that shows the life of a girl constantly on the move to prevent the authorities from turning her into a study specimen. The idea of 29-year-old Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) having an accident that stops her from aging may seem unrealistic, but this film makes it work. With the voice of Hugh Ross narrating, the science behind Adaline’s agelessness is explained in a well thought out way that goes well with the gentle tone of the film. Adaline’s heart stopped while she was under water, and a lightning bolt hit her car and revived her just as defibrillation would do. The reasons for her agelessness will not be discovered until the year 2035, which gives you reason to believe it. On New Year’s eve Adaline meets Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman), who is on a mission to get a date with her. This part of the film is just the average, predictable romance story you would expect, but it is worth the watch because when Ellis takes Adaline to his parent’s house the film transforms. Ellis’s father, William Jones (Harrison Ford), recognizes Adaline from his past. Her secret is not safe anymore. William realized Adaline was the girl he had planned on proposing to, and helped her decide to finally stop running away just as her daughter (Ellen Burstyn) had been telling her to do. Harrison Ford’s performance along with Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, and Ellen Burstyn just make the film even better. Blake Lively has the difficult task of playing a wise 107-year-old trapped in a 29-year-old’s body, but she does it without flaw. She is consistent with her line delivery and everything seems natural. You can see her emotions just by watching her face. Harrison Ford is convincing in his role with his expressions, body language, and lines. These actors all let you experience their same emotions. The story of Adaline’s past with William was shown effectively through flashbacks. They showed firsthand how close her and William had been. These flashbacks used costumes, hairstyles, and features to show how Adaline changed with the time, but also how she was the same person who had lived whole other lives. There are smooth transitions into the flashbacks, like watching an old film and looking into a picture of the memory. There were also different camera shots and effects that add to the soft, delicate tone of the movie. Several times the camera looks straight down on the scene making you focus on specific things from a different angle. There is also a nice contrast in the sounds between the loud crash and the quiet water when Adaline has an accident. Lee Toland Krieger was successful in creating a film that has the perfect mix of unpredictability and happy romance. After you watch this film you will think more about how you live your life. It shows what it would be like to have a never ending life, but not ever really being able to live. It disproves the idea that living forever is ideal, and shows the value of mortality.

Interesting concept that at least has some pseudo-science basis, When Adaline drives her car into the water at 29, and due to her submission in ice cold water, it drastically slows her heart rate and her bodily functions down, so that when she is able to gasp air after a lightning bolt strikes the water and acts as a defibrillator, and she awakens is within the realm of scientific possibility; obvious the explanation of her now immortality based on some DNA discovery that will occur in 2035 is not very believable. But name any movie in the world that doesn't use some artistic license and they could have written it in a much more fairy tale way, so they didn't completely insult our intelligence. It is almost a quasi period piece as early in the film, Adeline, who works at a S.F. Historical Center, spends about 10 minutes watching the history of S.F. from the turn of the century. There are also constant flashbacks to different periods in Adaline's life, like when she gets pulled over by a cop in 1956 (and her birth certificate shows her age to be 48 which is when she realizes she has to start changing identities every decade and move to another city, and the only person she can tell is her daughter (her husband died while building the Golden Gate Bridge). I find the scenes with her daughter over the years very moving. They stay together until it's no longer possible to explain away that her daughter looks older than Adaline with special face cream, that she can no longer be seen with her daughter anywhere people might know them. The joke about them looking like sisters isn't selling it at a certain time, and I found their relationship which seems very close and special dwindle away because of the age difference. Even though he only had maye 20 minutes of screen time, I thought Harrison Ford's performance was sensational. SPOIER ALERT: When he is first told thst Jennifer (Adaline's current identity) is Adaline's daughter when Harrison Ford's son Ellis brings Adaline to meet his parents, and Ford is blown away at the resemblance of "Jennifer" and a girl he knew well in England in 1966, he has an amazingly believable incredulous response. And then when he figures out Jennifer is actually his Adaline, he's a very believable combination of near speechlessness, trembling and on the verge of tears. You can imagine the varying number of emotions hitting him at once, and he acts them out beautifully. Side note: In the flashback to London in 1966, Adaline is played by Adaline, as there was no need to make her look younger; the whole point is that she never aged. But to get a 20;s something boy they couldn't use Ford, and they casted an actor in his place. I'd believe it if the actor playing the younger Ford was related to Ford. He looks exactly like you'd imagine a young 20's Ford to look like but more remarkable han that was his speech. His tone and inflection were so identical to Ford's I wonder if it was dubbed in.

Very interesting and intelligent story! Well casted and cool!

Best movie

A sweet and charming film that will bring a smile to your face and warm your heart. It's a simple tale with profound meaning. What if by some odd twist of fate, you were locked at a certain age--never to grow older? That is the dilemma facing Adaline. After a car accident, Adaline's cellular structure is frozen in time. Thanks to the narrator we are given the scientific (and totally implausible) reason for this anti-aging phenomenon. Time to just go with a very beautiful and moving film. It's gorgeous Blake Lively who makes every frame of this film shine. Lively is perfect in the role and is stunning in the hairstyles and clothing of the 40's and 50's. Lively gives breath and meaning to Adaline's story. Imagine never growing older. As the decades pass, you now look like your aging daughter's granddaughter. You live in fear of your secret being discovered and every decade, you need to change your identity and location. Welcome to Adaline's life and don't forget the complications of finding love and knowing you won't age but your partner real. It's a simple and amazing story. Finally, imagine running into the love you left 50 years ago and he recognizes you. Adaline's journey is full of sweetness and heartbreak. Having a blind friend helps. She won't see you age. It would have been good to see more of that friendship with the "older" friend thinking she and Adaline are the same age. The older friend is actually decades younger. Eventually, Adaline's life is in turmoil as she longs to be "normal." It's never explained but apparently Adaline is not immortal just ageless. Certainly a 100-year-old woman who looks 25 would have had a number of health scares through the years. But again, just go with the story and watch lovely Blake Lively bring warmth to the screen and wonder "what if...?"