If you were a young woman called Adaline and had eternal life, would you give it all up for 'twue lurve'? The answer would be a resounding 'NO' from my quarters, but what with it being a sappy dappy romance, I think you know what answer you can expect from this increasingly dreary piece of corn.
It doesn't help that the guy who you sacrifice an infinite existence for is a bearded part-time artist who stalks you EVERYWHERE, and his defining feature is his non-stop niceness. In other words, NOT a person, just a conglomerate of what Hollywood' screen writers think is the 'perfect man'. No quirks or surprises here... We've created... FRANKENHUNK!! I've seen this type of bland-beyond-belief Mr-Perfect in FAR too many films... And the next one I spot where I get even a whiff of such a character, the movie goes off. Along with my foot through the screen (hey, I can afford it).
In terms of how she ended up in this state, there was an incident involving a car crash at night, a lot of water and a lightning bolt. Not important. What IS is the fact you were born in 1908, and you start to look just as old as your daughter as she grows up... But you don't. So, here's the plan: You change your identity every ten years, move to a new state, sever all ties from the last decade, and repeat. Better than ending up as a lab experiment, I'm sure you agree.
Until, she meets HIM at a party. You know it's HIM because the action slows down as everyone else blurs into the background, and a cheesy ballad is heard. His actions, which involve following you around everywhere, refusing to take no for an answer, obtaining your home address illegally and making HORRIBLE looking dinners, eventually break down your emotional barriers, and you end up falling head over heels for this Weirdo.
Can I just state for the record that I'm fed up with being told borderline psychopaths and dull-as-ditchwater characters in media are somehow 'charming' and 'desirable'. Not to mention, people in movies acting completely contrary to the way I would in real life (and all other sane viewers) so the next time I have to suffer through one or the other, my television goes out of the window (as you can tell, I get through a LOT of TV's). Meanwhile, around an hour of cutesy poo romantic nonsense ensues.
Things FINALLY pick up again when 'the loving couple' visits The Weirdo's family, and Adaline is remembered by a cameoing Harrison Ford, playing the Weirdo's father, who had a fling with her around the Second World War. Only problem is... He's aged, and she hasn't. Hmm. The scenes where he realises the truth about her, and his heart-to-heart talk with the panicked girl are the best bits of the movie. Why couldn't we have had more interaction with these two instead of... Well, almost everything else?
Alas, the good stuff can't last... there's a car chase in the rain, a serious accident, a teeth rotting declaration of love, and a saw-it-from-a-mile-away twist ending. HOW DARE they take such an interesting concept and balls it up in such a momentous way. HOW DARE they have such a fascinating lead actress, and pair her up with the human equivalent of a freshly painted park seat. And HOW DARE they waste 110 minutes of so many people's lives.
We haven't all got as much time as Adaline, ya know. So do yourself a favour, and skip this unholy mix of genericity, mediocrity and (most of all) wasted potential... 4/10.
It doesn't help that the guy who you sacrifice an infinite existence for is a bearded part-time artist who stalks you EVERYWHERE, and his defining feature is his non-stop niceness. In other words, NOT a person, just a conglomerate of what Hollywood' screen writers think is the 'perfect man'. No quirks or surprises here... We've created... FRANKENHUNK!! I've seen this type of bland-beyond-belief Mr-Perfect in FAR too many films... And the next one I spot where I get even a whiff of such a character, the movie goes off. Along with my foot through the screen (hey, I can afford it).
In terms of how she ended up in this state, there was an incident involving a car crash at night, a lot of water and a lightning bolt. Not important. What IS is the fact you were born in 1908, and you start to look just as old as your daughter as she grows up... But you don't. So, here's the plan: You change your identity every ten years, move to a new state, sever all ties from the last decade, and repeat. Better than ending up as a lab experiment, I'm sure you agree.
Until, she meets HIM at a party. You know it's HIM because the action slows down as everyone else blurs into the background, and a cheesy ballad is heard. His actions, which involve following you around everywhere, refusing to take no for an answer, obtaining your home address illegally and making HORRIBLE looking dinners, eventually break down your emotional barriers, and you end up falling head over heels for this Weirdo.
Can I just state for the record that I'm fed up with being told borderline psychopaths and dull-as-ditchwater characters in media are somehow 'charming' and 'desirable'. Not to mention, people in movies acting completely contrary to the way I would in real life (and all other sane viewers) so the next time I have to suffer through one or the other, my television goes out of the window (as you can tell, I get through a LOT of TV's). Meanwhile, around an hour of cutesy poo romantic nonsense ensues.
Things FINALLY pick up again when 'the loving couple' visits The Weirdo's family, and Adaline is remembered by a cameoing Harrison Ford, playing the Weirdo's father, who had a fling with her around the Second World War. Only problem is... He's aged, and she hasn't. Hmm. The scenes where he realises the truth about her, and his heart-to-heart talk with the panicked girl are the best bits of the movie. Why couldn't we have had more interaction with these two instead of... Well, almost everything else?
Alas, the good stuff can't last... there's a car chase in the rain, a serious accident, a teeth rotting declaration of love, and a saw-it-from-a-mile-away twist ending. HOW DARE they take such an interesting concept and balls it up in such a momentous way. HOW DARE they have such a fascinating lead actress, and pair her up with the human equivalent of a freshly painted park seat. And HOW DARE they waste 110 minutes of so many people's lives.
We haven't all got as much time as Adaline, ya know. So do yourself a favour, and skip this unholy mix of genericity, mediocrity and (most of all) wasted potential... 4/10.