The Tree of Life

Malick's earnest pretentiousness surely invites derisive laughter. But it also withstands it, and like the ancient evergreen of its title, it towers benevolently over less ambitious movies...

The Tree of Life in no way measured up.

Ideally, you would bathe in a film like this without striving to decipher it. As it's a film about what we can't get our heads around, we are probably not meant to get our heads round it. But, even so, it is so audacious it will take your breath away.

... it's too bad what could have been a beautifully crushing family drama was usurped by a massive amount of unnecessary special effects clouding the real story.

The tone of the film is mesmeric, transcendent, awe-inspiring.

It's difficult to shake the sense of it as the spectacle of a man gone deep-sea diving in his own navel.

The film is more kaleidoscopic than linear, filled with privileged moments of magic and terror, of remembered shards of treasured memories that have become idealized snapshot, and moments that are more textured evocations of emotions and anxieties.

There are two distinct films being made here and while the opening frames of The Tree of Life are some of the finest in memory, there’s little in the middle-to-late section of the film worth noting.

You may not be able to pinpoint with words how it all comes together, but the beauty and power of Malick’s imagery and impressionistic approach to filmmaking convey another ponderous picture, the director’s most ambitious and lyrical work yet.

A film that blossoms into a compelling tale of nature versus nurture, which boasts one of Pitt's finest performances and imagery that will take root in your brain for days afterwards.