X
- 2011
- PG-13
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 2 h 19 m
- 2011
- PG-13
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 2 h 19 m
Summary The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith...
Directed By: Terrence Malick
Written By: Terrence Malick
- 2011
- PG-13
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 2 h 19 m
- 2011
- PG-13
- Twentieth Century Fox
- 2 h 19 m
The Tree of Life
7.0
Where to Watch
Summary The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith...
Directed By: Terrence Malick
Written By: Terrence Malick
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 50 Critic Reviews
85
90% Positive
45 Reviews
45 Reviews
8% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 50 Critic Reviews
85
90% Positive
45 Reviews
45 Reviews
8% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
This is visionary cinema on an unashamedly huge scale: cinema that's thinking big. Malick makes an awful lot of other film-makers look timid and negligible by comparison.
A sense of reconciliation is Malick's great accomplishment in The Tree of Life, affording us equal wonder at grace and nature alike. 
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 710 User Ratings
7.0
68% Positive
482 Ratings
482 Ratings
14% Mixed
100 Ratings
100 Ratings
18% Negative
128 Ratings
128 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 710 User Ratings
7.0
68% Positive
482 Ratings
482 Ratings
14% Mixed
100 Ratings
100 Ratings
18% Negative
128 Ratings
128 Ratings
Terrence Malick's masterpiece, The Tree of Life is one of the greatest films of all time. Expertly directed and expertly shot.
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An extraordinary thing, and one that I shall likely esteem for a long time. Philosophically, though, it's still mired in the primordial ooze in a way that will, I suspect, forever make me hold it at arm's length.
The movie plays out as a series of memories, so exact and evocative that watching it becomes an immersive experience.
Beautiful, baffling, poetic, pretentious, it's one big ball of moviedom. Malick tackles the whole shooting match, pondering (and showing) the creation of the universe, life itself, death and the afterlife, and everything in between.
The Tree of Life is gorgeous to look at. It's also a gargantuan work of pretension and cleverly concealed self-absorption masquerading as spiritual exploration.
Glibly put, this challenging time-skipping rumination is the big screen equivalent of watching that "Tree" grow.
A truly life-changing experience. Manages to tell stories of compassion, hatred, and confusion all through the perspective of one boy, one small, overall insignificant little boy. Undoubtedly the greatest film of the century (so far, although I doubt anything will top it). MASTERPIECE
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This is a historical drama film with some fantasy elements to it. Themes covered include family bonds, sibling love and discipline, plus the importance of faith.
First off, I can't not say that this is a hard film type to review properly, as it seemed to be missing much of what we expect to find in a film these days, particularly a drama film and certainly in the first half hour or so. What do I mean? well, for just over the first half an hour, there were only very few (human) characters shown and they weren't identified by name at all, plus there was no real dialogue (and thus plot) as such - there aren't even any opening credits, with the name of the film not appearing on screen. Instead of dialogue and named characters, we see a series of pretty awe inspiring visual effects - not CGI as you may expect to see in, for example, an action film but more like shots of Earth from space, the stars and bright, colourful patterns from space. I found it really quite confusing, trying to figure out what to make of it. It seemed, frankly, directionless - not unpretty at all, with classical music heard while watching various shots of nature and space, it is fairly relaxing and definitely pretty but I couldn't help but wonder what the significance was, of what I was being shown, of when the main story was basically going to come to light. The numerous main characters do come to the fore after a while, although, as I say, there is relatively little dialogue and there is no narration, so its up to us as a viewer to try and guess the significance of events and where things are going. Due to this, its fair to say that the film won't appeal to all - I was quite sceptical and certainly confused for the first half hour or so, fearing it was a little too indie/overly artisitical in an abstract way. However, this film last for a total of two hours and 13 minutes and thus the first half an hour or so equates to less than half of the total running time and I did find myself becoming quite keen on the main characters - the young sons, after their life was being portrayed.
Meanwhile, the children include Steve, played by Tye Sheridan, Jack, played by Hunter McCracken (and Sean Penn as Jack as an older man)and R.L., played by Laramie Eppler. Sean Penn I also thought did well at playing quite a reflective and thoughtful middle aged businessman/office worker.
I thought the young boys seemed to give decent performances, with them having some facial expressions which I felt made them seem rather endearing. I'd say that it captures childhood innocence and curiosity in quite a good way. Its hard to explain things, other than to say that its the sort of film that you have to see for yourself and come to your own conclusions about really, as one person may think one way about it and another person may have wildly different opinions but obviously, this just being my review, I can only explain how I felt. I do think that if your at all impatient and like to be hooked on a storyline from close to the start and right through, then of course this isn't for you. If your a bit sceptical of films that are at all philosophical, then again, this is likely not for you and I did feel myself losing interest part way through but once it started to interest me, I did enjoy it and in the end, I felt it was a poignant, thoughtful and pretty well made film.
One reason I thought it was well made was because **** use of camerawork, in that scenes are shown via different angles - its quite artisitic, in a sense but again its hard to explain without you seeing it for yourself. Some shots are shown from down by ground level, some from a corner of a room, whereby the sun shining through an adjacent door is focussed on and so on. It did feel, in that sense, relatively well thought out. Content wise, the film contains some mild violence, mainly in the form of fisticuffs and hand to hand combat between characters. Domestic arguments and fights are depicted and thus there is a threatening element sometimes present but otherwise, there's little likely to offend or upset people. It is hinted at that Jack is entering adolescence and has feelings for someone due to his actions at times but nothing especially sexual is shown as such. Otherwise, generally the film is a bit spooky and there is perhaps a little bit of a supernatural (space-wise) feel to it. It has been given a 12A rating in the UK due to the content.
This was very much a strange film, one that, as I say, felt hard to review but I hope you think I've done ok at it regardless. While watching the film; I was surprised, as I hadn't realised quite how art-y and unstructured it was, particularly at the start. I'm glad I stuck with it and I do feel like it was a good watch overall but I concede that this likely won't be the case for everyone. Its worth considering a watch though. Its what I might call a slowly evolving film.
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While this film is beautifully crafted and shot, it misses the mark in telling a coherent story. If you are looking for a very artistic and visually strong film, this film may appeal to your tastes. As someone who likes being able to follow the plot of a story, I cannot say Tree of Life accomplishes that
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Short verison:
Tie an hd camera to your dog. Set him loose in your neighborhood. Boom -- Tree of Life.
Long version:
But here's the real meaining of the movie.. cow. horse. crying. rain. let's play catch in the yard. Now let's have Brad Pitt sit in front of an old tv and grumble. Applesauce. Clouds. The sun. Wander aimlessly in a parking ramp. Wonder about the meaning of your kids. Who may have died. Next week. Squirrels and pumpkins. Lots of pumpkins. Speaking of which, I like vanilla.
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Visually stunning with no significant plotline. Films like these where the special effects outdo the well-crafted hopefully not too complicated plotline, yet amass a vast quantity of critical acclaim, make me question how desperate film companies are in order to achieve at least a satisfactory level. Probably the only perfect reason why it got the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival was because it has the god-like standard and wonderful form of the special effects to make it look professional. Although, I did enjoy how insignificant we are in this universe, cue the 'stunning visual effects' again, which is compared to how we live, but due to what I said earlier, I would nominate this for a 'one-watch only' award, as this didn't seem anything to go on. I find it is better to stick up for the films which are genuinely good but unappreciated and sometimes immorally slammed by the critics, than to sugar coat the films that do not deserve even a satisfactory review. The film was confusing, and Sean Penn was barely in it. Funny how the beginning can be compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey, which I'd rather watch, because it is beautiful and has a plot, and I want to doubt that this film will ever be a classic compared to a Stanley Kubrick film. I never liked Brad Pitt anyway.
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Production Company
Cottonwood Pictures,
River Road Entertainment,
Searchlight Pictures,
Brace Cove Productions,
Plan B Entertainment,
Summit Entertainment
Release Date May 27, 2011
Duration 2 h 19 m
Rating PG-13
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Nominations
Central Ohio Film Critics Association
• 2 Wins & 11 Nominations
Georgia Film Critics Association (GAFCA)
• 7 Wins & 10 Nominations
