I'll give this wackadoodle film credit where it’s due: it sets up its kooky world and sticks with it so earnestly that it's not out of the realm of reality that it might convince you to take it seriously as well. THE AGE OF ADALINE involves lovely 29-year-old Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively, in easily the best performance of her career, which isn't saying much, but I actually mean it positively). Living happily in the early 1900s, she got married, had a child, became a widow, and got in a car accident that by all rights should have killed her. Thanks to a well-timed drowning and a lightning strike, Adaline actually survives, but after a few years go by, she begins to realize that she has stopped aging.
Her daughter, Flemming, is getting close to catching up to her in age, and it is then that Adaline decides to go into hiding, changing her identity, and moving away, keeping in touch with her daughter periodically to see how she's doing. Wherever she is, she lives a solitary life, never getting involved with anyone, never allowing her photo to be taken. Primarily, she's afraid of watching those around her get old and die, so she moves every 10 years or so to make sure that doesn't happen, but this rootless life is wearing on her. As if by chance, she meeting a handsome philanthropist named Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman, from "Game of Thones" and "Orphan Black"), and the two start a hesitant relationship that seems headed for love.
In one of AGE OF ADALINE's best scenes, Adaline and Ellis go to visit his parents (played by Harrison Ford and Kathy Baker), and it just so happens that Ford's character has a history with Adaline that he doesn't quite realize, but if he figured it out, it could expose Adaline's secret and ruin her chances of a lasting romance. I'll admit, a big part of the reason this film worked for me is Ford's conviction in the role; he's completely taken aback by Adaline's appearance in his life, so much so that his wife starts to feel truly weirded out by his behavior. Even if it's not in a genre film, it's great to see Ford suddenly giving a shit again.
You might not notice it at first, but Lively is quite good in THE AGE OF ADALINE. In everything from her posture and voice to her gestures and personality, her Adaline doesn't scream that she's a woman out of time, but you still get a sense that something isn't quite in step with the modern world. She's smart enough not to stick out, but still committed enough to the time she grew up in to seem charmingly old fashioned in a quirky way. I never got tired of examining her performance, trying to spot her smart tricks.
I was also impressed with the scenes involving Adaline and her now elderly daughter (Ellen Burstyn (the second time in a year Burstyn has played the daughter of an ageless parent, as she did also in INTERSTELLAR), during which Flemming is continually pushing Adaline to go after Ellis and not be afraid of loving again. Director Lee Toland Krieger (CELESTE & JESSE FORVER) has made an elegant, beautifully shot film in THE AGE OF ADALINE, so I can't fault it on those terms.
The story seems custom made for the Nicholas Sparks crowd, who seem to insist on some sort of gimmick to get them through a fairly standard-issue love story. But there's a bit more going on that just a gimmick. With the exception of a hokey final act that may or may not solve Adaline's issues with aging, the film actually has a good heart. I'm not sure what lessons we're meant to learn about love from this movie, but sometimes it's just enough to watch people go through a dramatic experience just to see how they come out the other side.
