Age of Adaline

I'd seen previews for this movie, but thought it would be too weird and sad. I thought it would be odd like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or The Time Traveler's Wife. I thought it would feel unbelievable like those movies, but it didn't.

I cheered for Adeline Bowman from the start. The beautiful Blake Lively played her and did a terrific job. I'm now a Blake Lively fan.

It's about a beautiful girl from the 1920s who marries a successful man. They have a daughter. On Adaline's way to see her family, she's driving and it's rainy night. She crashes through a guardrail and plunges into a shallow body of water and dies. Two minutes later, lightning strikes and restarts her heart. That causes her not to age past her current age of 29. Her husband soon passes away in a work accident.

As her daughter ages they look more and more like sisters. Her childhood friends are shocked at how young she looks. She get pulled over and the officer can't believe she's in her 40s which her license says. He asks her to report to the police station the next day with her birth certificate. And so her life on the run begins. She leaves her now-college age daughter.

She changes her name and moves every couple of years. She has no close friends and doesn't really build relationships. She always has her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She went though many during her lifetime.

I love her style, which has a vintage, classic feel. She works with books and archives. New Year's Eve comes and she goes to a big party to hear her friend play music for the event. Her friend is blind and has no idea how young Adeline actually looks. As Adaline enters the venue looking timeless and beautiful, she sees a photo of herself and two army guys from a New Year's party there years ago. She reflects on that memory and heads into the party. Some young guy comes up admiring Adeline's beauty and her friend makes a comment about them being "cougars." He looks shocked as only one of them looks like a "cougar." He leaves.

In walks a dapper guy in a suit. Adaline catches his eye and he catches hers. The moment is ruined when a pretty girl walks up to him and kisses his cheek. Shortly after midnight, Adaline excuses herself from the party to head home. As the elevator doors close at the venue, a hand sticks through the door. You guessed it, the handsome man. His game is good, but she is not having it. He stops her cab and asks how he'll get in touch with her. She smiles and leaves.

He shows up at her work. He'll donate $50,000 in books if she'll go on a date with him. She refuses, but finally changes her mind. Gotta get them books. He brings her books with flower names, like the White Oleander. Their date goes well and he's crazy about her. Her dog dies and she pulls away from the guy, Ellis. She talks to her daughter, Flemming about the relationship and she encourages Adaline to open her heart.

When she reaches out to Ellis, he's overjoyed. She's finally happy, but holding a big secret. Soon he asks her to meet his parents and attend their anniversary party. She agrees. Soon they're heading outside of the city to his parent's home.

As soon as they enter his parent's house, Ellis' dad recognizes Adaline. She's going by the name, Jennifer, so she claims her mom was Adaline. Turns out, Adaline and Ellis' dad, played by Harrison Ford (who is looking crazy old nowadays) dated years ago. They met overseas. They came back to the states and he planned to propose, but she never showed up. In actuality, she saw him with the ring before she got out of the cab and asked the cabbie to keep going.

The next day, while everyone else is away, Ellis' dad sees a scar on Adeline's hand that jogs a memory. He rushes to find boxes in the shed, searching for a photo. He finds it. When he and Adaline were dating 25+ years ago, she cut her hand while hiking and he stitched it up. He was studying to be a doctor. He confronts her. She runs, packs her things, and tears off in Ellis' car. Ellis comes back from his walk to see what's happened and runs after her. It's rainy and she drives fast. She skids off the road as a truck hits her and leaves. She dies. Ellis comes upon the wreck and runs to her. An ambulance arrives and they shock her, which re-starts her heart. At the hospital, she awakes and tells Ellis everything. He looks overwhelmed. In walks her daughter, now an elderly silver-haired woman. She confirms Adaline is her mom.

The movie skips ahead one year. Adaline, Flemming, and Ellis live together with a puppy, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Ellis is waiting on Adeline and they're heading to a fancy party. They're dressed to the nines. Adaline goes for one last check in the mirror. She sees something and pulls a hair, it's gray! She smiles. The shock to her heart fixed whatever wouldn't let her age. What a happy ending!