A far-fetched but engaging narrative of a woman never ageing beyond 29 having been struck by lightning.
Having been involved in a car accident in the 1930s, the widowed Adaline (Blake Lively) survived a lonely existence for more than eight decades. Changing identities every decade has allowed the ageless mother to retain her secret. Only daughter Flemming (Ellen Burstyn) knows the truth and now introduces herself to people as Adaline’s grandmother. But meeting the charismatic Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) threatens her equilibrium, further shaken by a weekend away at his parents home and a 40th wedding anniversary party.
An understated, nuanced performance from Lively carries the unlikely scenario of this sensitively directed (Lee Toland Krieger) feature – with Harrison Ford as Jones Senior making a welcome emotive appearance to stir any melodramatic malaise the film could quite easily slip into.
Rating: 58%
Director: Lee Toland Krieger (Celeste & Jesse Forever, December Ends)
Writer: J. Mills Goodloe (A Gentleman’s Game, The Mountain Between Us), Salvador Paskowitz (Nic & Tristan Go Mega Dega)
Main cast: Blake Lively (A Simple Favour, The Rhythm Section), Michiel Huisman (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Rebel Moon), Harrison Ford (Blade Runner, Cowboys & Indians)
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