Abigail J. Fallon | Staff Reporter
Published April 24, 2015; 12:20 p.m.
Anyone who has run into the prospect of love has, at some point or another, faced it with skepticism or turned away from it entirely. In my case, I know the only way I could have done better with my exes would have been to run away from them faster, but sometimes you have to wonder what your life could have been like had you chosen to share it with someone else.
“The Age of Adaline” is a story about a woman named Adaline Burrows (Blake Lively) who, after a freak car accident in 1937, stops aging at 29 and continues living throughout the decades. By the time she meets a charming guy (Michiel Huisman) named Ellis in present day San Francisco, she takes stock of the previous decisions she’s made and considers changing course for good.
“Adaline’s” plot is reminiscent of “Tuck Everlasting” and “The Time Traveller’s Wife,” both of which were books that later became movies. I think that this story might read better in print. Still (and this is my girl-crush on Lively speaking), Lively brought an air of charm and beauty to the screen that kept things interesting and made her life in different eras somewhat believable.
As with many films of our time, “The Age of Adaline” aims to mix sci-fi circumstances with romantic sensibilities: a combination that I do not think hits the target in this instance. I would have liked to see more of Adaline’s past life and less predictable scenes where she tries to hide her true identity and live a lonely existence. If director Lee Toland Krieger wanted the audience to pity her, he should not have cast such a bombshell.
Regardless, there are several plot twists that you might want to see for yourself, for they make us reflect upon our own choices in love and life. Any amount of introspection can cause us to wonder what would have happened if we had said yes to love. If nothing else, this film gives us food for thought: what would we do if we could stay 29 forever?
