Cast: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Fiona Shaw, and Irene Bedard
Directed by: Terrence Malick
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some thematic material
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 2hrs 18min
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures
By John Delia
Could one compare the Cosmos with a 1950’s conflicted family? With Tree of Life director writer Terrence Malick tries to do just that. Although he may succeed on an existential level, a general audience will just see a family in disparaging change that picks at the heart and soul of their relationships. I am not a big fan of the film and found Tree of Life to be preachy and more of a meditation on my own life problems.
The movie opens with grown up Jack (Sean Penn) now a successful architect thinking back on his life. It quickly moves into the 1950’s where we are introduced to his father, Mr. O’Brien (Brad Pitt) starting a family in a rural American town. As time goes by O’Brien starts to spiral down from a life-changing problem taking his frustrations and deep seeded pain out on his children. With only his wife (Jessica Chastain) as a barrier young Jack resists his father’s domination while trying to hold his place in the family.
The acting is superb with Pitt as the high-strung domineering father and husband. His emotional state changes in the film from loving to a man with a rattrap inside ready to spring shut with the drop of a foot. He brings up his children with a strong hand never showing any real emotion beyond contempt and anger during his discipline. Jessica Chastain as the children’s mother takes as much of the focus off the boys as she can in an attempt to ease the anger displayed by O’Brien. Her ability to show weakness and yet protect her children is just one of Chastain’s acting strengths she brings to the film.
Many films come to mind involving domineering males but most recently Revolutionary Road where changing times and employment affect a couple trying to raise their two children. In Tree of Life Terrence Malick goes another step further and shows the hostile situation between father and son that forces a distancing of their love and a scar that remains forever.
Using Sean Penn as older Jack really doesn’t make any sense. In fact it is quite distracting since it is such a small part. It tends to make me believe that there must be a shortage of good acting in the acting pool.
As the film opens and intermittent throughout Malick interjects flashbacks to the beginning of time, dinosaurs, the universe, long underwater shots and lofty moody hypnotic music that seems to indicate the presence of God. I’m not too sure that the entire splendor is needed in the film and tends to bring to mind 2001: A Space Odyssey a film that almost put me to sleep with the Blue Danube Waltz music.
Tree of Life is rated PG-13 for some thematic material, but in my opinion parents should be cautioned that verbal abuse is quite excessive in the film.
FINAL ANALYISIS:Â A preachy film with a derivative story. (C+)