Sometimes, ambitious, daring and
different can yield a masterpiece.
Other
times, it yields The
Fountain.
Hugh Jackman stars as Tom –
an
experimental researcher and doctor dedicating his life to finding a
cure for
his wife’s, Izzi (Rachel Weisz), illness.
As her condition gets worse, Tom is becoming
obsessed with saving the
most important person in his life.
Along
the way, she asks him to read a book she has been working on, one about
a
Spanish conquistador trying to find the tree of life in the Central
American
jungle, much like Tom has been doing for the past few years.
Will Tom find a cure in time?
If only The
Fountain was as easy and straight forward as that plot
summary. Writer/director
Darren Aronofsky has created
a movie that is partly about Tom’s struggle to find a cure,
partly about the
book Izzi has written and partly about a dreamlike and possibly
futuristic
place Tom inhabits. The
tricky part is
figuring out what is real, what is fantasy and how it all goes
together, which
is a challenge I think I failed, and maybe most will give up trying to
solve. I’m
all for a movie making us
think, but I am worried Aronofsky, no matter how much I respect him as
a
director and writer, went a little too far with this one.
However, The
Fountain is redeemed by some very good acting
performances, and possibly the
best performance you have ever seen from Jackman, who amazingly
captures Tom’s
obsession and fear as he is losing his wife.
He is being driven mad by grief, and rips at your
heart while doing
it. It’s
a shame this performance wasn’t
in a movie that had some awards potential because he would be in the
running. Then,
Weisz puts in a strong
performance as a woman facing death with grace.
It’s an easygoing performance from her
that makes you hope you can be
that calm in the face of the ultimate danger, and a nice departure from
what
could have been a scenery chewer role.
In the end, The
Fountain might just be a little too weird for its own good
and ends much too
suddenly after the audience has tried to wrap its brain around the
concept.
2 Waffles
(Out
Of 4)
The
Fountain is rated PG-13 for some intense
sequences of violent action, some sensuality and language.
Copyright
2006 - WaffleMovies.com
