The Tree of Life

For the past six years, I have had the opportunity to attend an event called the AMC Best Picture Showcase. This is where selected AMC theaters play all of the Best Picture Nominated films. This year 9 movies are nominated so it is a two-day event. During the first day of the event 4 movies were shown including The Tree of Life. This movie is probably the worst Best Picture Nominee I have seen in the past six years. No one watching the film understood the story or could figure out what in the world was going on. It was too long and too abstract. It did however, have some beautiful scenery (It is also nominated for an Oscar in Cinematography), and a great soundtrack.

Plot: After talking it over with several other best picture showcase goers, the plot as we figure it is this. It centers on a man, Jack, who is looking back on his life and is trying to figure out the meaning of life, and how religion fits into it all. We are shown the complicated relationship that he has with father as a child, and how he struggles between what the movie calls nature versus grace. The best we can figure is that Jack's father is nature and his mother is the grace. We are given glimpses into his life as he struggles with nature versus grace issues while growing up in some past time in Waco, Texas. There is not a whole lot of dialogue in this movie and you are never sure what is exactly going on. Jack has two brothers, R.L. and Steve (I might mention that I had to get the boys names off of IMDB because I don't remember them being mentioned in the film). We are told at the beginning of the film that one of the brothers has died but we never really know which one or how. Steve disappears for most of the film and you really start to wonder were there three boys or only two? It's a very confusing film made even more so by the fact that there is some kind of second national geographic film intersperse in this story. We are shown the evolution of life from microbes through dinosaurs and then the demised of the dinosaurs. We are shown images of the seas, clouds with light coming through, volcanoes erupting, the desert, some of the planets and the sun. Why these images are there? Who knows, none of us did.

The plot and dialogue were really lacking for me. There was no real story and no real meaning to this film. The movie has these transitions between each part of the film as we switch between Jack's story and the national geographic clips. The transition image was nice. It looked like a little fire or maybe what a soul might look like. But each time we transitioned between parts, and the screen got dark everyone in the theater was hoping that the movie was over and the credits were next. Everyone in the theater was fidgeting, and a nervous, frustrated laugh broke out every time a new section started. Now keep in mind that the people who come to these events are serious moviegoers who know that they are coming out to view the more artist best picture nominees. People left, and since we were in a theater that offered alcohol, people were leaving to get drinks as well. (because we all needed them just to tolerate this film)!

That said, I do think there was some good elements to this film. The national geographic elements were nicely filmed and were very lovely and scenic. They just didn't belong in this film in this way. There was also a good choral sound track that the friend I was with really enjoyed. And there was some good camera work in the beginning when the parents get the news that their son has died. I do think that The Tree of Life had some beautiful Cinematography and is rightly nominated for an Oscar in Cinematography. I do not however think it deserves the Best Picture Nomination.

The acting was good for what they were given. I though Brad Pitt did a good job as the father (Mr. O'Brien). He has a very expressive face and manner, which did him well for this movie since there is so little dialogue. He is this very expressive and emotional character that is very conflicted between the anger and violence he shows to his children, and the love he demands from them. He is quite the controlling, dominating father. In contrast, Mrs. O'Brien, played by Jessica Chastain, is a very soft gentle creature that the boys torment, as they get older. They see her softness and love as a weakness. She is the grace in this family. She also has a very expressive face that does well in this film. Sean Penn plays the adult Jack, and I didn't get a whole lot from his role. I think just about anyone could have played this role, and been just as good. I am not sure that Penn had a whole lot to work with in this role and I don't think his face is as expressive as some of the other actors. I did think that Hunter McCracken did a great job as the young Jack. He is a very expressive boy. I could actually get a feeling for the type of boy Jack was through Hunter's expressions, and the very little dialogue present in this film. Hopefully we will see him in future films. I also really liked Laramie Eppier who plays R.L., the middle son. I think he may have done one of the best jobs in the film. He has almost no dialogue, but I got the sense from his role that he is more like his mother, and Jack was more like their father. I also perceived that R.L., and Jack were very close as brothers, but were always battling out this difference of nature versus grace and it presented itself in themselves. Eppier did a great job in his role and I would definitely like to see this boy in other roles. Tye Sheridan plays the disappearing brother who we don't see much of and there is nothing I can really say about his performance. He was kind of just there and not there. Overall, I think the actors did the best they could with what they were presented.

Overall, my friend and I and most everyone else in the theater did not even remotely like this film. It was long, confusing, and boring. I know it got nominated because of the complex issues it presents, but this is one nominee you can skip watching. Seriously, that was 2 hours of my life I can never get back.