Critic’s Choice: Terrence Malick’s extended ‘Tree of Life’ branches out beautifully
Baby elephants. A harrowing thunderstorm. A visiting uncle. Brad Pitt taking a swig from a bottle of Tabasco sauce. Sean Penn wandering about, lost in thought. OK, I could have done with less of the latter, but in all other respects, it’s a marvel to behold the 50 extra minutes of footage included with this new Criterion Collection release of Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” (2011).
The movie remains a wonder: a vision of earthly grace and cosmic transcendence, an evocation of childhood as emotionally intimate as it is psychologically incisive, graced by perhaps the most memorable (and terrifying) performance of Pitt’s career. Your mileage, needless to say, may vary. If you think “The Tree of Life” is an impenetrable bore, you are unlikely to be enriched by more of it. If you consider it to be one of the richest, most inexhaustible works of cinematic and religious art of the 21st century, there’s a strange joy in knowing that some movies, like life, are never truly finished.
See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour »
Movie Trailers
Only good movies
Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
