The Age of Adaline Movie Review

The Age of Adaline (2015)

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Written by: J. Mills Goodloe & Salvador Paskowitz and J. Mills Goodloe (screenplay), J. Mills Goodloe & Salvador Paskowitz (story by) 
Directed by: Lee Toland Krieger
Starring: Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Ellen Burstyn
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
A young woman, born at the turn of the 20th century, is rendered ageless due to an accident. After many solitary years, she meets a man who complicates the eternal life she has settled into.

Verdict
There's a really good forty five minutes in this, unfortunately the other fifty five minutes aren't nearly as interesting. It's difficult to find a movie that's such a mixed bag. This manages to overcome the tired romance movie tropes with a unique premise that becomes focused on human drama, but then the movie throws all of that away for boring cliches. All my good will this movie earned was completely undone in the last twenty minutes. Then there is the overbearing voice-over which almost makes this a pass outright.
It depends.

Review
This might have the worst voice-over in a movie. Not only does it not add by telling us what's happening on screen it actively detracts from my enjoyment. This starts with a near mindless information dump that could have been a nice moment of storytelling. Imagine if Up had grating voice-over during the introduction. It would completely rob the movie of a touching montage. This opening isn't on that level even without voice-over, but it could at least give the viewers some credit. Removing the voice-over completely would only help this movie.

Blake Lively plays Adaline.

Adaline (Blake Lively) doesn't age, isolating herself to avoid the heartache of watching people she cares for grow old and becoming a science study. She possesses a gift and a curse which causes her to continually uproot her life to keep the secret.

This is a bit predictable. Adaline meets Ellis (Michiel Huisman), a man that's enamored with her. She likes him but can't break her rules. The setup that she can't age makes this just different enough to be intriguing.
I doubt movies would be written like this now, at least I hope not. Ellis is manipulative. He threatens to withdraw his sizable donation to Adaline's library unless she goes out with him. She's said no, but that doesn't stop him. As the viewer we know her reasons why, her secret, but there are other ways to pair the two.

Harrison Ford plays William.

This becomes much more interesting when Adaline meets Ellis's parents. Ellis's dad William (Harrison Ford) was in love with Adaline way back when. William experiences nostalgia for his first love, and his wife rightfully becomes jealous as William becomes starry eyed every time he sees Adaline who has claimed William's Adaline was her mother. Harrison Ford puts in some work, then again the acting across the board is strong.

It's easy to fall for Adaline because she has so much experience and wisdom. She's lived many lifetimes so of course she's extraordinary. The dynamic between Adaline, Ellis, and William makes this movie more compelling than I expected. I really wanted it to end with Adaline driving away, leaving everything behind to start a new life and continuing to keep her secret. It would have been the bold move of a confident movie, but that doesn't happen. The voice-over comes back to note the quality is about to drop. This movie contains an interesting premise and the way this ends robs it of any impact, breaking suspension of belief and choosing a very safe ending.