Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger
Starring: Blake Lively, Harrison Ford, Kathy Baker, Ellen Burstyn, Michiel Huisman
The opening scene sets up the premise which captures your attention: A young woman and old woman meet in a restaurant. We suspect they are mother and daughter, but when the old woman whispers in the young woman's ear, "Happy Birthday Mom," we are flabbergasted. Then we learn with a flashback and narration that the young woman named Adaline (Lively) is really about ninety years old, but thanks to some scientific mumbo-jumbo involving a car crash into a lake and lightning, she has not aged since the 1940's. This is not as fun as one would think. She is unable to settle down with anyone and frequently changes identities and addresses in order to keep her secret intact. She fell in love a few times, but turns down marriage proposals and vanishes from the poor men's lives. I'd say the beginning of The Age of Adaline is very good, the middle sags considerably, and the final act involving Harrison Ford nearly puts things on the right track again.
Adaline, who in the present day goes by Jenny, does her best to avoid attaching herself to anyone or anything. She made that mistake before, and winds up hurting the ones she loves. One such man was William Jones (Ford), who in the late 1960's sat on a park bench waiting to propose to Adaline. Adaline sees him sitting on the bench with a ring in his hand, but then leaves without ever speaking to the heartbroken William again. Fast forward to present, Adaline/Jenny now catches the attention of a handsome young man named Ellis. He asks her out, she resists, but soon they connect and he brings her along to meet his parents. His father is, well, William, who is astonished to see a woman in front of him who looks just like his lost love from nearly fifty years ago. Jenny says Adaline was her mother, but William doesn't buy it. It is here where The Age of Adaline finds its heart.
The relationship between Ellis and Adaline/Jenny isn't exactly crackling with chemistry. She has more with William, who is happily married now but Adaline's reappearance disrupts things for a bit. Ford and Kathy Baker give us a portrait of a long married couple who can withstand even this swerve. How does William tell the Mrs. that their son's lover is actually his lover from years ago? Very carefully I would assume. Lively is capable and brings as much sympathy as she can to the role, but do we really buy that she would change her life and finally reveal her secret over this lightweight Ellis guy? No fault to Huisman, who plays the role as written, but there just isn't much there. The movie explains how Adaline's condition is a curse, but we don't believe Ellis is the person to help her lift it.
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