Writer-director Terrence Malick's mostly-visual scrapbook of a man's life, from his formative years in suburban Texas in the 1950s to the present day, where he works as a businessman in the city. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and his camera takes us on a journey as well, swimming, coasting, gliding and swooping across the landscapes and seashores of this country with dizzying artistic flourish. This is a handsome piece of goods, and the prime reason why the best actors working today want to work with Malick--he assures quality. Malick also does something unexpected: he gives actor and co-producer Brad Pitt one of the most revealing roles of his career. As the overly-critical father of three boys (ordinary kids, not troublemakers), he has a hard, unsentimental core, demanding though not altogether heartless. It's an amazing transformation for Pitt, who performs without any movie star allure (when he tells one boy to sit up straight at the dinner table, they all sit up--and maybe his spouse, too). The casting of Sean Penn as Pitt's now-grown son doesn't work as well; Penn's slack face and haunted eyes are so familiar to us that, by now, his features don't reveal anything unique. The film has an uncanny grasp of childhood, yet is essentially no more profound than a series of recognizable quirks, traits, situations and memories. It will touch some viewers deeply, others not so much. It is certainly a work of great expression, one with a quiet, subtle personality--tinged with sadness and regret. **1/2 from ****
Review of The Tree of Life
