December 11, 2011
Review - " The Tree of Life " - (on DVD) By Roland Hansen
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Tree of Life
Directed by: Terrence Malick
Starring: Bread Pitt. Sean P{enn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter
McCracken, Tye Sheridan
One of the most pretentious pieces of pseudo-intellectual garbage I
have ever seen. The photography is great, however that is not what
a film is about. The whole film turns around a guy and his relation
with is father and the burden of his brother's death. really simple
story, with no need for mental masturbation over two and one half
hours. I'm willing to bet that in the near future no one will ever
remember this film. This film gathered another award: my life's
greatest cinematic disappointment.
It beggars belief that the crummy hacks out there calling themselves
critics say this movie is a "masterpiece" and draws comparison with
Kubrick's 2001. Is it because of the slow pace and special effects?
Kubrick used those for a reason: to tell a story, to help advance the
plot and create a sense of expectation and/or suspense. The Tree of
Life is nothing like that, because there's simply no plot. You don't
know who to root for or sympathize with. There's no hero, no
challenge, no arc. It's just a 2 1/2 hour collage of short scenes.
It's a pity really, because the performances are quite good,
particularly the kids in the 1950s sequence and Brad Pitt as the stern
father discharging his career frustrations on the wife and kids. Sean
Penn is there too, but he's useless: the director gives him nothing to
do, so he just makes ugly faces at the camera as if he's suffering
from terrible heartburn.

I often like pretentious or
intellectual movies.
I HATED The Tree of Life