Tree of Life Review (Short version)

Finally watched Tree of Life.  And I liked it very much.  It’s the first Terrence Malick movie that I’ve been able to finish without either falling asleep or losing interest.  I really enjoyed it.  Jessica Chastain not being nominated for Best Supporting Actress for THIS movie is a real mistake.  As much as Malick made a work of art here, I think a majority of the credit has to go to cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki.  Tree of Life is by far the best looking movie I’ve seen all year.  Hunter McCracken gives one of the best child performances in a long while.
The whole movie had an odd effect on me.  It was like taking a muscle relaxant or a tranquilizer.  I haven’t felt ‘at peace’ like that watching a movie.  Especially the first hour or so, where we see the ‘creation of the universe’.  So tranquil, and yet never boring for a moment.
And about the creation of the universe.  Malick chose effects guru Douglas Trumball, the man who helped make Kubrick’s own 2001, to do the CGI for this movie.  The results are breathtaking.  Using every technique under the sun for movie effects Trumball gives us the whole universe.  Not many can do that… at least not this good.
A complaint I would have is that the final 10-15 minutes of the film felt almost too ‘artsy’.  The movie abandons any realism and goes to a very spiritual place.  Not a bad frame in those 15 minutes, I just felt the movie was so strong in its story of the family drama.  I would have liked it to finish that way.
But it’s a minor quibble at best.
So in the end.  I strongly suggest that if you have not seen the film, to go out and see it at least once.  I cannot promise that you will enjoy it on the same levels as me.  But I can promise you that it’s unlike anything else that’s come out in 2011.

Best Performance – Jessica Chastain as Mrs. O’Brien
Best Line – Young Jack (McCracken) – “She only loves ME!” (Referring to his mother)
Best Scene – Malick shows us the actual creation of the universe, the Earth and life thereon.

Rating (out of 4 stars):
***1/2

Go see it.