Brad Pitt's Movie Tree of Life Wins the Cannes Film Festival Palme D'Or, 2011

I'll declare at the outset that I tend to favour work by Brad Pitt.

From "Thelma and Louise" through "Seven", "Twelve Monkeys", "Fight Club", "Mr and Mrs Smith" with Angelina Jolie and the "Oceans" films, I do like to see Brad at work. He's a fine actor, adding up to much more than his movie star looks and great body. Pitt can carry off every role, from uber-cool (Tyler in "Fight Club") to strange little jerk (Jeffrey in "Twelve Monkeys".)

So as I settled into my seat at the Rivoli Cinema in Carpentras in the south of France, I was well-disposed to the idea of "Tree of Life".

Turned out it's an unusual film.

"Tree of Life" had already won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival when I saw it in Carpentras. So it already had the blessing of the movie industry.

But what is it like?

Well, it's shot through with religious twaddle which doesn't float my particular boat. Pitt is a rigid and disciplinarian father and his oldest son (of 3) looks back on the family's early life asking questions about god. The god in question is an omnipotent, all-seeing, christian god and the eldest son, Jack, poses questions about 'him'. Why does this god let bad things happen? (One of his younger brothers has died in an unspecified incident.) Why should people be good when god clearly is not? Is god watching? Where is he?

And etc.

None of that got my interest. There's a scene near the end of "Tree of Life" which is rather embarrassing since it's sentimental and sugary. Pitt, Sean Penn, the young sons of the family and their mother meet in paradise. Heaven, it turns out, is a calm beach with gently lapping waves.

Well, you know, whatever.

More interesting is the film's faux-documentary content on evolution. The birth of the universe and the origins of life sit rather bizarrely with the story of Brad Pitt's all-American family. There are, however, some stunning images of the origins of the universe and the origins of life, of erupting volcanoes, the sea, sealife and the half-lit or almost-completely-dark edge of the planet. The dinosaur scenes are a clumsy mistake and one wonders how Terrence Malik - who made a film as subtle as "Badlands" in his youth - could wonder so foolishly into Jurassic Park territory. But never mind. He's nearly 70 after all and maybe his interests in movie-making have changed. The other images make up for the "raptors." There is more than a nod to the wonderful Stanley Kubrick film "2001" with the edge-of-the-world filming and the juxtaposition of a human-scale story with the mysteries of the universe.

The third part of this odd trilogy-in-one film (evolution, god, all-American family) is the family narrative. Brad Pitt plays a frustrated husband and father who has missed out on material success. He tries to instil "backbone" into his three sons by getting them to call him "Sir", by setting them physical tasks in the yard and occasionally by hitting them. His wife, who aspires to "grace", showers the boys with love and affection.

None of it helps when the youngest boy is killed in, apparently, an unspecified military conflict. The clash between the female "grace" and kindness in the home and Pitt's machismo, and the interplay of evolution and religion are brought together in the weird paradise-beach scene.

It's an ambitious film and out of the ordinary.

Malik tried to do something quite original here and I think it's that impulse that the Cannes jury rewarded.

Brad Pitt gives a very solid performance (told you I like him) and the film overall holds audience attention. There are many stunning images - almost painterly, like works of figurative or abstract art - and there's also much food for thought. All that makes "Tree of Life" well worth seeing.

What didn't work for this reviewer was the religious twaddle. But for you - who knows? - that might be the best part of it.