Synopsis: What if you could live forever?
Genre: Action/Drama/Sci-Fi
Release Date: November 22, 2006
Written & Directed: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn,
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 1.36 min
Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain” last’s a very long time. On-screen it goes on for 1,000 years. Sometimes from the audience, it seems to last longer. Not that it’s a bad film, it’s not.”
The Fountain” is an art form; art is a dicey exercise in creativity, more often than not, well done. Even when not well done, creativity is a tough form to be a judge of it’s so hard to tell if one actually sees what is being put before the viewer.
This quest for eternal life is built on a little more melodrama than I’m used but don’t let me dissuade you from seeing it, enjoying it. In my case, this metaphysical film offers up a pretty decent case for euthanasia. For some, it simply represents what it’s like to desire a swift, merciful end. You will need to see the movie to make your own decisions on exactly ‘what’ Darren Aronofsky meant to show you.
Alas, the movie does pile ill-chosen mystical imagery onto a plodding plot which could have used a little work, been better planned out. The director reaches for deeper meaning and may even deliver it but that gets muddled in too much film, not enough substance.
“The Fountain” is a terrific idea in search of a full-length movie. We enter during the 1600 hundredth century with Hugh Jackson in a Guatemalan jungle among raiding Maya warriors. What I thought I saw went downhill from there.
“The Fountain” can be neither recommended nor ignored. Risk is what ultimately produces great films. This one deserves big points for effort. Should you give up your favorite entertainment to catch it? Probably not. Still, if you get a break some cold winery afternoon, it’s a change of pace packaged around an intriguing never-ending endeavor, man’s endless search for eternal life.
