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‘The Age of Adaline’ is the prettiest film of the year

Lively's costumes are a focal point throughout the otherwise glassy film.

Lively's costumes are a focal point throughout the otherwise glassy film.

Film-Review-The-Age-of-AdalineIf ever you’ve craved a big-screen adaptation of a Ralph Lauren clothing catalogue, your prayers have been answered with The Age of Adaline.

With carefully crafted costumes, brilliant casting and a set straight from Architectural Digest it’s more a visual escape than a thought-provoking sci-fi flick.

The whimsical romance stars Blake Lively as Adaline Bowman, a woman born in 1908 whose ability to age is permanently put on hold by a freak car accident.

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A kind of female Benjamin Button, Adaline remains 29 years old forever, constantly moving in an effort to elude the prying eyes of neighbours and the affections of would-be suitors.

The film certainly has a lot of potential for poetic commentary on the nature of relationships and ageing – after all, perpetual youth seems fun until your loved ones start dying around you.

Unfortunately, The Age of Adaline falls just short of pulling off its far-flung premise, instead getting caught up in over-explaining Adaline’s condition with a jolting voiceover and fawning over its seriously good-looking leads.

Michiel Huisman – otherwise known as Game of Thrones‘ Daario Naharis – plays Lively’s love interest in the film.

Despite undeniable chemistry with Lively, Huisman is unconvincing as a romantic lead, his rugged, brooding look incompatible with his polite demeanour.

As if to reemphasise his irrelevance, a particularly unnecessary shirtless scene indicates the real reason he was cast.

Offering a welcome reprieve is Ellen Burstyn, who is far more comfortable in an arguably unsuitable role, playing Lively’s ageing daughter.

Even at the age of 82, Burstyn embodies enough youthful energy to make her a believable child to Lively’s mother figure. Bizarre, but it works.

Perhaps even more bizarre is the uncanny resemblance between Harrison Ford, who plays an important figure from Adaline’s past, and the actor cast as his younger incarnation, Anthony Ingruber.

The pair are identical and the story behind Ingruber’s casting is a movie in itself: Ingruber filmed himself doing an impersonation of Ford and Sean Connery and put it on YouTube, where Ford himself spotted it.

The 72-year-old then suggested Ingruber as an option to play his younger self, a tip the casting director embraced wholeheartedly.

Ingruber’s portrayal of Ford is spot on, and provides a stark contrast to the ageing actor who seems dramatically older in this film than in his previous work.

Ford’s role as wealthy scientist William Jones is far more age-appropriate than his recent action hero appearances in The Expendables 3 and Ender’s Game.

He looks jarringly old – his white hair and crinkled face arguably serving as a better statement about the passing of time than the entire movie.

Lively's costumes are a focal point throughout the otherwise glassy film.

Lively’s costumes are a focal point throughout the otherwise glassy film.

Where The Age of Adaline really shines is in its appearance. The cinematography is suitably whimsical and Lively is the ideal choice to play the mercurial Adaline. With her megawatt smile, perfect pout and refined sex appeal, it’s like watching a Victoria’s Secret model tackle Shakespeare.

Then there are the outfits.

Upon signing up for the film, Lively admitted the costumes, designed by Angus Strathie (Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom), were a huge drawcard.

“To see a character who is alive from 1908 until now? The first thought is, ‘Oh, the wardrobe! The makeup!’” Lively told Vogue.

She’s not wrong. Adaline (and, by consequence, Strathie) traverses the various decades with ease, transforming from flapper to 60s bombshell with aplomb.

For any lovers of fashion, the movie is essential viewing – the ultimate in eye candy.

Frustratingly, the writers fail to address one particularly bothersome element of Adaline’s love story, which we won’t detail for fear of ruining a major twist.

It involves a premise reminiscent of the 2005 Jennifer Aniston film Rumour Has It and may leave some viewers with a niggling sense of discomfort.

Then again, you’ll probably be too distracted by the sheen of Lively’s hair to mind too much.

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