The Cocaine Princesses
we are the True descendants of our lord Greedo sent to destroy all those unholy scum that claim to…See More
The Spill Movie Community
If it's crap ... We'll tell you
Follow Spill!
Latest Activity
The Loading Bar Appreciation and Remembrence Society
For The Loading Bar: Gone but not forgotten.A place for Ladyboy Tequila Slaves and Cocaine…See More
Cartoon posted a status"And if that doesn't work, a few of us will have to learn card counting and take down Vegas. For Spill!"
Cartoon posted a status"I'm buying a lottery ticket-no, wait....I'm buying FOUR lottery tickets tomorrow. And if I win, you can bet I'll be shoveling money at Spill"
Mo-Mo posted a status"For those of you who didn't see it Kayla is doing a fundraiser for Jeff Jason and Brian http://ning.it/12Aaiq5"
Photos
Music
THE TREE OF LIFE
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation…while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
Visionary director? Check. Charismatic leading man? Check. Dinosaurs…WTH? THE TREE OF LIFE conjures up philosophical questions on the meaning of life and why we’re all here, told through the eyes of a 1950’s suburban Texas family. And it is as exhilarating as it sounds. The film begins with a death in the family that sends shock waves throughout the neighborhood. The pace and tone has been set for an engaging, dark family drama. Then it fades to black and you see a glowing ball of fire. We’re shown the Big Bang and all the historical events that later follow, suddenly it feels like an episode of Planet Earth. Admitting, the captured space/nature footage is absolutely stunning, but it does nothing for the narrative and brings whatever momentum it had going for itself to a complete halt.
When we return to Texas, the death has not yet occurred, but rather we’re treated to an examination of this family’s life right before leading up to the tragedy. Brad Pitt is a powerhouse in a more restrained performance as the man of the house. He turns from loving father to authoritative drill sergeant in the blink of an eye. Another wonderful performance was by newcomer Hunter McCracken, who played Young Jack O’Brein. Starts out as the obedient eldest son, until his father leaves town for a business trip and then slowly his inner demons begin to expose themselves in the form of screaming at his mother, vandalizing property, and torturing small animals. The weak link is Sean Penn, who plays future Jack O’Brien, who is non-existent here as he wanders aimlessly throughout the film just looking gloomy and uninspired.
There is a compelling story to be told about family life during the 1950’s buried deep down somewhere in here but it’s too diluted by the fragmented, non-linear storytelling techniques that director Terrence Malick chooses to employ. Aside from the gorgeous visuals and strong performances, none of it is enough to rescue the film from the slow burn of it all. It feels like watching the making of molasses, it becomes tediously torturous. Either way, I liked it better the first time when it was called, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Grade: C
Comment
-
Comment by BENTOBOX on August 22, 2011 at 11:25pm
-
Comment by Rabid Scotsman on July 20, 2011 at 11:00pm -
I completely disagree. You shouldn't chastise a film for following a non-linear structure. I actually found the film quite easy to follow upon further digestion. This film is getting almost the same reception as The Fountain, another film that followed many of the same themes as well as its structure. I can understand why you didn't love the film but I think that another watch will radically change your opinion of it. This is the type of film that makes me want to become a filmmaker.
-
Comment by Juan on July 10, 2011 at 5:54pm -
i thought the movie was really lame. I like films that are artsy but this felt like it tried to hard, and it sucked me out of the film many times
-
Comment by Brad Holt on July 7, 2011 at 9:34pm -
Wow, glad I'm not the only one who felt the same way.
-
Comment by BENTOBOX on July 7, 2011 at 1:05pm
-
Agreed. I really did want to like this movie but story and proper character development is really important to me so those transitions to the National Geographic stuff and Future Jack, just threw me off to where I could never get into a rhythm where I was fully engaged.
-
Comment by David on July 7, 2011 at 10:16am -
Yeah I actually saw this during Spill Dot Con at the Alamo, and being a diehard Malick fan I did like the film. But I'll be the first to tell you that most people who don't have that appreciation for "artsy" movies will probably hate it. It is very disjointed and the narrative/characters suffer from either not enough time on the screen or interaction with each other. At first there is almost nothing but narration (but if you've seen Malick's movies this is no surprise, he delivers the important lines of pretty much all his movies that way), but in the second half of the film there are more scenes of the family actually doing stuff/talking. But even then it's hard to really piece together a story. What you have instead are brief clips of life, not necessarily a plot.
What saves this film is the beautiful imagery. The cinematography is gorgeous, literally every single shot is wonderful. Especially those universe/nature shots. And yeah the acting is pretty good, Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain do great jobs, as does the kid. Sean Penn isn't bad, but he just has nothing to do but react to scenes from the past, when he isn't in, so it ends up feeling kind of out of place. It's too bad there weren't enough scenes of everyone just being together to advance the story...or rather, it's too bad there wasn't really a story to begin with. I don't think this film was designed to play out like a normal narrative, but unfortunately, you don't know that until you're already neck deep into it.
Most people won't like this movie. But it is beautiful, it's just flawed as fuck. You have to know that going in to even have a chance of liking it.
© 2013 Created by The Spill Crew.
You need to be a member of The Spill Movie Community to add comments!
Join The Spill Movie Community