Age of Adaline: A Love Story Greater Than Two People

This past week I was invited to a pre screening of The Age of Adaline, the latest film from Blake Lively that has been touted as a fashion and love story for the ages. Starring Lively, Michiel Huisman (Orphan Black and Game of Thrones) and veteran greats, Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn, the cast was an immediate draw but also brought a level of intrigue. These actors have all made their mark in very different projects, with different generations and I was wondering how all of this would work? Could it work?

I invited my Dad to the film with me, he is who introduced me to the love of the movies and he is a great person to discuss a film with after. As we waited in line to get into the theatre we discussed the cast. As I thought, my Dad really had no idea who Blake Lively was and only knew Michiel Huisman after it was pointed out that he is the love interest of Khalessi in Game of Thrones. However he was familiar with Ellen Burstyn, whom I was only familiar with by her bit parts(Interstellar), and I think it is safe to say that Harrison Ford is a multigenerational star, everyone has seen him and knows him from something. Ironically enough, Lively was playing the oldest character amongst the veteran actors.

Age of Adaline is a true love story, it is an exploration of love between a Mother and Daughter, a new love and old love, all while telling a magical tale. Adaline is a young woman born in the beginning of the 20th century, after a car accident in the most unusual of circumstances Adaline stops ageing. In a culture where women are striving to stay young this may seem like a God sent gift instead of the problem it poses for Adaline. After time passes people begin to wonder why Adaline is not aging, no longer does the excuse of good genes and excellent beauty regiment satiate the inquiries and Adaline is forced to go on the run, constantly changing her identity and having to keep her relationships superficial except for that with her daughter(Ellen Burstyn) who often has to present herself as the mother and later grandmother to her own Mother.

As Adaline, who has been going as Jenny, is preparing to embark on a new identity leaving San Francisco and moving to Oregon, she meets the handsome Ellis ( Michiel Huisman) on New Year’s Eve. Adaline reluctantly sees Ellis and is surprisingly taken with the young man. One thing leads to another and when Adaline can no longer find an excuse to not see him again, she finds herself en route to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of Ellis’s parents. To the shock of Ellis’s father(Harrison Ford), Jenny is not an unfamiliar face but that of an Adaline whom he fell in love with and, if she had not disappeared, would have proposed to. Adaline is forced to confront what it is that she is running from after 80 years and if it is out of a place of love or fear.

This film is remarkable comment on love, history and on how women value and perceive ageing. Lively has been both chastised and celebrated for a comment she made about how after making this film she does not fear the ageing process and that to not age would be tragic. Having watched TV personalities talk about these remarks I find it interesting that it seems that the women who are chastising her are older women, rolling there eyes and saying that Lively can only make that comment because she is 27. Too often this complex of not wanting to age and celebrating youth is blamed on the media but after listening to the reactions of different women I really wonder if it is the media or if it is just us.

I throughly enjoyed the film, the story is fantasy but through the fantastical tale it confronts societal truths is an honest way. Lively delivers a thoughtful performance, having Adaline stay true to her actual age and not her youthful exterior. Michiel Huisman is a modern leading man perfectly contrasted by the traditional leading man played by Harrison Ford. My Dad and I enjoyed the film together and I celebrate it for being a film that is multigenerational in its appeal. The fashion has been a topic of discussion, as it should. Every time Lively was on screen I was as excited for the fashion as I was for the story taking place. It perfectly showcases the decades as the non ageing woman herself cannot. I recommend you go see The Age of Adaline this weekend with a loved one, be that your sibling, a friend or a parent as I did, you will leave the theatre that much more thoughtful to the relationships around you.

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