We’re used to romance films incorporating comedy, science fiction or history, but it’s not too often we see all of these in one well-written story — The Age of Adaline, however, doesn’t disappoint.
Director Lee Toland Krieger, who also directed The Vicious Kind (2009) and Celeste & Jesse Forever (2012), has done it again. And coming a long way since Gossip Girl, the timeless beauty Blake Lively was perfectly cast as Adaline, alongside the handsome Game Of Thrones star, Michiel Huisman.
A breath of fresh air, this classy romance defies the overly saturated teen romance flicks. You know, the unrealistic ones starring 23-year-old actors trying to pass off as high school students. Mind you, The Age of Adaline is also a bit unrealistic, as a young woman in a car crash is struck by lightning, revived and from that point on, never ages — still, the story is believable.
As the loose ends of Adaline’s story slowly came together, starting from present-day San Francisco and filling us in with flashbacks (and helpful narration), it was easy to enjoy the creativity and elegance in all aspects of the film, from writing to costuming.
It’s cast was just as seamless, as Hollywood favorites like Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn brought in additional factors that embedded a harsh reality into the punch line “forever young.” Harrison, introduced later in the film, plays Adaline’s coincidental old someone, and Burstyn plays her daughter Flemming (at 82), whom she spends much of the film with.
The close relationship of Adaline and Flemming was an unexpectedly remarkable part of the story — she was the only one who knew Adaline’s secret. Both actresses were impressive; Lively’s mannerisms and voice maintained that of a mature mother, despite their age difference, and 82-year-old Flemming didn’t act a day over 20. Their relationship warmed our hearts as we thought of our own mothers, and realized that love really is blind to age.
Reaching for our tissues, we saw a battle between time, love, security and happiness in Adaline’s character development. She initially rejects the idea of romance, saying “It’s not the same when there’s no “growing old together,” but comes to learn that sometimes its okay to be vulnerable, and that’s when she truly begins to live her life.