The Tree of Life

"The Tree of Life" was written and directed by Terence Malick.  It stars Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and Sean Penn.

The film takes place in Texas in the 1950s.  The O'Brien's are your average American family.  Near the beginning of the film the 19 year son died, so naturally they have to cope with some grief.  Another major component of the film is Mr. O'Brien's (Brad Pitt) relationship with his son Jack.  Mr.  O'Brien is sometimes abusive and strict, but he really loves his family, he just has a odd way of showing it.  There are some flash forward scenes with adult Jack, played by Sean Penn.  He is still trying to understand his life and how his circumstances affected that.  Near the middle of the movie there is a weird origins of the Earth scene, that I found confusing and will go into that further, later.

Terrence Malick has only made 5 films over the past 38 years, and I have only seen one of them, so I guess I do not completely understand his filmmaking style yet.  He is known for his unique style and a strong use of outdoor cinematography.  Both are on display in "The Tree of Life."  This included a great deal of flashbacks and some great outdoor shots, filmed on location in Texas.  There was a great use of shadows and reflections and the dull colors, clothes, house interiors etc, successfully portrayed this part of the country in the 1950s.

Brad Pitt, is one of my favorite actors and I really enjoyed him in this, as I do in most things.  He played just a normal father who loves his family and wants his sons to grow up to be strong and what have you.  However, at times during the movie this because abusive, including him freaking out on one of his sons during dinner, and occasionally being verbally abusive to his wife.  I had not seen Jessica Chastain in anything besides this movie, but she is a good actress, and was the perfect counterpart to Brad Pitt's character.  She was much more innocent and nurturing toward her three sons.  I also like Sean Penn as an actor, but felt he was not used enough in "The Tree of Life."  He only had a few scenes and it was sometimes hard for me to connect what was happening with Sean Penn to the flashbacks.  Either that, or I just can't handle watching anything more complicated than "Grease."

Near the middle of the movie, there was a scene that was way too long, that dealt with the Creation and origins of the world.  I guess this was to show how various components of life are all interelated are something.  I really am not completely sure.  The scene dragged on, I was getting bored, and just wanted to see Brad Pitt's clean shaven, heavily made up face again.  Then dinosaurs came on the scene, and I started thinking about "Jurassic Park," which had better special effects by the way, as far as dinosaurs are concerned.  Is this what Terence Malick was hoping for?  I tend to doubt it.

Two more things.  This movie was too long, as I mentioned before and had it been more concise it would have been more engaging.  Also, some of the scenes were too short, that they seemed to jump from scene to scene too quickly.  This, at least to me, was hard to follow.  Had some scenes been longer, perhaps there would have been more cohesion.

Obviously, I did not understand the majority of the movie.  Apparently, I cannot follow movies now, so I will have to watch this again sometime and see just how much I completely did not realize actually happened.  I liked the acting in "The Tree of Life" and the visuals were for the most part stunning.  So, at the very least you get those two components.  I guess Terrence Malick is just too philosophical for me.

2 out 4 stars...only because I need Terrence Malick to stop being a recluse and to do an interview with David Letterman and Jay Leno so he can explain this movie to people like me.  But, honestly I appreciate how movies like this are at least being made.  They are unique, require you too think and don't have Michael Bay's or Owen Wilson's names anywhere near it.

-Joseph Sbrilli