The Tree of Life. Bored to death.
The film revolves around Jack (Sean Penn) as he looks back on his life. The day we meet him is the anniversary of a younger brother's death. His brother died at the age of 19 from unknown causes. As he struggles through this specific day, we see him reflect on his younger years: his relationship with his brothers (the assumption on my part is that it is his more artistic-leaning brother who dies way too young) and parents.
Nature vs. Grace is a theme of this movie. To me, it looked like both are failures. Mr O'Brien (Brad Pitt) is not well liked by his children because he is a very harsh father -- though I wouldn't call him abusive (nature). Mrs O'Brien (Jessica Chastain) is loved by her children when they are young, but specifically Jack (played by Hunter McCracken as the youth) runs over her as he grows older (grace). The movie also decides to spend ten minutes or so going through the history of evolution. What is up with that? Is that to show us that no matter what nature wins over grace or is it to show that we hardly matter in the grand scheme of life.
And as for Jack. If anyone is the biggest jerk in the family, it is this kid. Can one blame this on his father or mother? Doubtful. Nature has decided to make this kid the bad seed.
Yes, I am writing a lot about this movie, which sometimes indicates that it is a movie that makes one think. In this case; however, I'm writing a lot because I felt like it was a movie that addressed significant issues in the most boring of manners. Seriously, I didn't care one bit about the family.
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