"Tree of Life" PG-13
Terrence Mallick's trippy 1950s saga of a family that goes through very ordinary things and has very quiet lives was lorded over by critics to the point that it almost got Oscars. The story seems to focus on a man in contemporary times, Sean Penn, having a crisis where he reflects back to his chilhood in Texas with his brothers, his working stiff stuffy Dad and his nature enthusiast Mother. The middle brother eventually goes to Vietnam and dies in battle. The youngest brother is still living. Many friends of the family die over the years. The boys when they were teenagers discovered girls and how to break into a house, and other ways to get into trouble. One of the neighbor kids has a brain operation or something, as is evident by his half shaved head. Another drowns. This is Oscar bait, if it were acted with some semblance of timing, pacing or linear thought. But oh, it's Mallick! He did Thin Red Line! Oh, not this guy. Although critics loved it, and the haters were likely not so learned in existential movies, the reception seemed one sided. I don't mind trippy movies like 2001 and Solaris (with this reminding me of Solaris), but really this director is in love with his pretty images of not only this Texas family, but the beginning of everything through to the end, the red giant statge of the Sun and it turning into a white dwarf. Really! This movie was trying to be everything. All it needed to be was a nice little preachy family channel special about 90 minutes long, at most, about this family, and it would have won best picture. that is if they redubbed the freakishly quiet sound of each actor through most of it, because Oscar's old fogies love this stuff. Why was it so quiet? Half the time, Brad Pitt (the Dad) is mumbling. Sean Penn (the older son) does anyway. So I did understand it. Getting it was not an issue. I just didn't think it made a lick of sense most of the time to keep cutting to imagery that was so disconnected. None of them are in space, involved in astronomy, or science people, so why cut to vistas of exploding galaxies and suns? The heaven part was interesting but isthe guy that goes to heaven just dreaming? Is he imagining the movie while contemplating a leap off the Chicago bridge in the other scene? Probably he isn't. He is just dreaming. So is life a dream? Was this movie a nightmare? Well it was vaguely entertaining, except for some visual pretty stuff, and some mumbling and yelling on occasion and boys, and it was not a horrible movie. It just didn't make sense. It was like ten movies rolled into one. I can see what the Academy fogies were thinking though. They likely fell asleep and dreamed it was a better movie. And yes, I do like action films better. So what? I also liked Terms of Endearment and Solaris. I like trippy movies. This one however needed some work, or to never have happened. It's not the worst best picture nom I've ever seen. That probably goes to Gangs of New York (which was at least unintentionally funny), or possibly to There Will Be Blood. Ha. Tree of Life is also not the same movie as the 2005 version that I have not reviewed.
Review by Adam Browne
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