There is a moment in every person’s life when they realize that they just spent one hour and thirty-six minutes of their life completely, without-a-doubt, 100 percent confused. That happened to me on Friday night when I saw The Fountain.
It’s not that The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky, is a poorly made movie. It is visually stunning and technologically impressive. Yet for all its creative and inventive elements, there is a definite lack of plot and character development.
The three intertwining stories of The Fountain are over-ambitious. It “begins” during the Spanish Inquisition when an explorer Tomas (Hugh Jackman) sets off to find the Fountain of Youth. The scene jumps to the present with Tommy Creo, a scientist (Jackman) is struggling to save his wife Izzi (Rachel Weisz) from cancer. The final stage of the journey is of a 26th-century astronaut (Jackman) attempting to understand life and its mysteries. Through the themes of adventures, death, and the love of a woman, the three plot lines form an intriguing and thought-provoking exploration of life.
While the basic concepts of The Fountain are fascinating, the movie quickly falls short expectations. Often, it feels as though there is no connection between the three story arcs creating a lack of interest in the movie. Scenes become tiresome, drawn out, and boring.
Despite it’s flaws, I found The Fountain captivating.
If you are looking for a film that is eccentric and trippy, go see this movie. You might not understand it right away(at least I didn’t), but something about The Fountain, (I’m not exactly sure what that something is) clicks, in a good way.
Updated October 12, 2010
@Cinefille 
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