Netflix says: Brad Pitt and Sean Penn star in Terrence Malick's 1950s adventure about a confused man named Jack, who sets off on a journey to understand the true nature of the world. Growing up in the Midwest with two brothers, Jack has always been torn between his mother's guidance to approach everything he encounters with an open heart and his father's advice to look after his own interests. Now, Jack must find a way to regain purpose and perspective.
Matt says: “The Tree Of Life” is the kind of independent film that everyone loves except for the audience. It’s an overly pretentious film that tries too hard to be high art. It has whispering voice-overs musing about “life” over tight shots of rain, feet in rain, car tires in rain, and people staring out at something off camera (probably rain). I got 25 minutes into the film and no on-screen actor had spoken yet… it was all voice-overs. In fact, no one really did anything but pose as the whispers rambled nonsensical musings. I’m sure everyone involved felt they were making something important, and maybe it does end up with the viewer feeling enriched and wanting to be a better person, but I couldn’t make it that far. Look, I have a full time job, school three hours a night three times a week (not counting transportation on public transit), homework, and I’m currently looking for an apartment; if something doesn’t interest me in the first half an hour, it’s turned off. If you have trouble sleeping, I recommend this as it really is a boring, boring movie… at least the part I made it through. I originally rented this as it was getting Oscar nods. Serves me right for buying into the hype. That this is up for “Best Picture” and “Drive” was almost completely ignored by The Academy is a crime and a shame. I can’t even grade this one because I never got far enough. So: ??? stars. (If anyone does sit through the whole thing and wants to have their complete viewing review posted here… e-mail your review to me at moviereviewsunday@gmail.com. I would love a guest review of this and will give you full credit.).
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