The Tree of Life :: Movie Snippet

The Tree of Life (2011, Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain): Thumbs Down

I didn't hate it like I thought I would, and while I do like parts of the movie, I didn't feel positive about it as a whole. It's almost two movies in one, and while they play off each other well sometimes, the two pieces also fail to connect in some places.

On one hand, I can identify with the core of the movie - I do the same exact thing sometimes and zone out existentially (this movie feeds you with images of waterfalls and jellyfish to help you along); on the other, I think the family flashbacks meandered too much and lost its point. The shore at the end of eternity was touching, but I've dreaded the concept of it myself - it's something that I'd rather not think about.

While I can't recommend this movie to everybody wholesale - hence the thumbs down, it was still interesting to watch. I'd like to think that if I were to make a movie based on some of my deeper existential musings, it would be something like this; only I would substitute the 1950's Texan family thing with Gundams.