Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger
Cast: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Kathy Baker, Ellen Burstyn
Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) was born in the early 1900s. By all accounts, in 2015 she would be a very very elderly lady, or passed away. But Adaline has remained 29 years old for nearly eight decades. Her life started out normal, she grew up, married, and gave birth to a daughter, Flemming. However, in 1933, Adaline was in a car accident. Due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the accident, she miraculously survived, and subsequently stopped aging. She was kind of like a vampire, only without the thirst for blood and all the other vampire junk.
At first, things were fine. But one day, when Adaline was supposed to be in her mid-forties, she was pulled over by the police. When they saw her driver’s license, there was some suspicion, as she appeared to be much younger than her birth year. Adaline realized then that she needed to move and get a new identity, which started her life on the run.
The majority of this film takes place in 2015, with flashbacks to various parts of Adaline’s past. In the present, Adaline is living in San Francisco, working for a library under the alias of Jennifer Larson (Jenny for short). She is planning on moving in a few weeks, which is bad timing as she meets Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman), a philanthropist who has donated to the library where Adaline works. Ellis is instantly attracted to Adaline, but, understandably, Adaline is hesitant to start anything with Ellis. Eventually, they do start dating, and Ellis invites Adaline to his parent’s house to celebrate their fortieth anniversary.
Now, everyone has some trepidation when they are meeting the parents for the first time. However, what would it be like if you were basically immortal, and you had dated your boyfriend’s father many years ago? Upon being introduced to Adaline, Ellis’s father, William (Harrison Ford) is shocked to see that she looks exactly like a woman he dated during his younger days. That’s because she was!! Adaline covers up by telling him that was her mother, but William is still suspicious. His obsession with his former love doesn’t sit well with his wife Kathy (Kathy Baker), especially on their anniversary party weekend.
William finds some old photos and puts two and two together. He tells Adaline he knows her secret. She confesses but she feels like she has to keep running, for Ellis’s sake. William tries to get her to stay but Adaline leaves. I don’t want to give any more away, so all I am going to say is that Adaline shouldn’t be driving, as she doesn’t have a very good driving record.
I felt bad for Adaline. She had to keep moving and changing her identity. She couldn’t really get close to anyone, because who would believe her situation? And then if they did believe her, they would grow up and pass away and she would be stuck looking like a 29 year old and be all alone. Also her daughter looked old enough to be her grandmother! Throughout, Adaline had a great spirit though.
I really enjoyed Blake Lively’s performance. I liked Ellen Burstyn as Flemming in the present time. I heard some complaints about Harrison Ford’s performance, that he was uneven and seemed lost in his character. I totally disagree. His character was GENUINELY confused. How would you feel if the first love of your life reappeared over fifty years later, looking EXACTLY like she did when you knew her many years ago? Confused, maybe? I thought his character was well-acted. And also he was a doctor, named William Jones, so there was that!
Overall, The Age of Adaline had romance, some drama, some light-heartedness (I wouldn’t really call it a drama or a comedy), and a little bit of sci-fi. Solid acting performances and the movie moved right along, not dragging at all, right up to the satisfying ending.
