The Tree of Life (2011)

I am both fortunate and unfortunate to be born a film-lover in the final years of the 20th century. I am fortunate because I can completely evaluate twenty-eight years of Terrence Malick’s career in five films. I am unfortunate because I never got to experience them in the theaters, on the largest screens, with others who love film. I never got to pay eleven dollars, walk in, and go see The Godfather. I never got to run in opening night to The Lord of the Rings. Instead, I’m sitting in a crowded theater for two hours watching Hop. But I am still glad for the first thing I said. I’m glad I can fully evaluate one man’s work in two hours. And I am also glad that, if I choose so, I can have the first film I see by a director his magnum opus. The only problem with Terrence Malick is that every film he makes is his magnum opus. So I’m just going backwards. The Tree of Life, then The New World (which I am watching as I write this review), then eventually The Thin Red Line, then Days of Heaven, and lastly, his first feature film, Badlands. But that’s neither here nor there. I’ve wasted enough words. Now let’s talk about The Tree of Life. An experimental drama set mostly through the eyes of a Midwestern family in the 1950s, The Tree of Life is the story of father and son. The father, Mr. O’Brian (Brad Pitt) of Waco, Texas, is a less-than-compassionate father. His son Jack, played as a kid by Hunter McCracken, who is truly amazing (the character is also played by Sean Penn as an adult for ten seconds, which is truly frustrating). The third central piece to the puzzle is Mrs. O’Brian (wonderfully and simplistically played by Jessica Chastain), an idealistic housewife who, honestly, puts way too much faith into her family. This trio, along with two other kids, create the O’Brien family, which is the main focal point of the film, although including an extremely impressive 30-minute-long sequence about the creation of the universe, created, which is reported to have been created practically, like the effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is amazing. My God, is it amazing. A lot of this film is truly amazing. It is unnaturally subtle, and a lot of the events in the film aren’t explained. However, if you pay close attention, and try to forgive the few times when so little is explained that it is incomprehensible, this is a great film that completely deserves to be seen. Do not be surprised when Malick’s name is tossed around during Oscar season.
9/10