To the Wonder – Die Wege der Liebe (2012)

To the Wonder – Die Wege der Liebe: Directed by Terrence Malick. With Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, Javier Bardem. After falling in love in Paris, Marina and Neil come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Their church’s Spanish-born pastor struggles with his faith, while Neil encounters a woman from his childhood.

“Malick is one of my favorite directors ever. Heu0026#39;s made three masterpieces, one excellent film, and one merely solid one. The Tree of Life is his finest achievement, one of my five favorite films ever. Now here comes To The Wonder and itu0026#39;s like Tree of Lifeu0026#39;s very similar, but much more emotionally-undeveloped younger cousin that wants to be as mature and as serious as itu0026#39;s older relative. Thatu0026#39;s the problem, but itu0026#39;s also part of its appeal. I did not have high expectations for this, but I also didnu0026#39;t really think it would hit greatness. I was sort of right. By this point itu0026#39;s safe to say that youu0026#39;re either fond of Malicku0026#39;s general style or not. Obviously I am and so thereu0026#39;s nothing here thatu0026#39;s challenging for me as a viewer because I know what to expect. But even with his former weakest, The New World, there was still something unique to each of his five films. This is To The Wonderu0026#39;s biggest problem. The cinematography is beautiful and would blow your mind away if this was your first Malick film, but as it is, itu0026#39;s kinda predictable. The story at the core is also never fully brought to life in the way the story in his last one was, although Kurylenko and McAdams both bring some truly ethereal presence. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt sounds like I didnu0026#39;t even like it. I did, but I also think it started off pretty great and kinda lost itself and got weaker as it went on. And while thereu0026#39;s still a lot to admire, Iu0026#39;m not surprised by the criticisms and itu0026#39;s finally the film where the term u0026quot;Malick clichéu0026quot; can be applied to.”