Plot: An impressionist history of a Texas Family in the mid 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through childhood and his complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt).
Pros: Photography, acting, heartfelt family scenes
Cons: Uneven, too long, Dinosaurs and Brahms, often pretentious
The average movie-goer hates Terry Malick movies with good reason, they're deliberately paced with minimal dialogue and plot and include long, lingering shots of nature. And pretentious movie snobs love them.
And guess what? "Tree of Life" has exactly the same attributes along with a silly 2001-esqe "Creation and Evolution^^" segment - complete with Dinosaurs and Brahms. And yet I didn't hate it, I actually liked a lot of it. Its well-acted and the family scenes (from Malick's boyhood?) ring true and are often touching and beautiful. And the characters seem real and likable (unlike those in "Days of Heaven" or "Badlands"). Plus, I appreciate that Malick is doing something different from the usual phony Hollywood drama.
People have compared it to Kubrick's "2001", which is unjust to Malick. "Tree of Life" may be pretentious but its trying to say something about real people in real life while "2001" was simply another soulless Kubrick entertainment, full of 'sound and fury' signifying nothing.
Summary: Not for the average movie-goer. If you're looking for action, excitement, or even a story, you'll hate this movie. If you want something different or liked Malick's previous movies, you'll like this one. I liked it mostly - but please Terry, no more dinosaurs. Rating ***
^^ = but no men in ape suits, thank goodness.
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