The story of Darren Aronofsky's ambitious sci-fi epic The Fountain spans a thousand years. The movie itself only seems that long. Give the acclaimed director of Pi and Requiem for a Dream credit for trying to tackle the big themes of love and death in a new and challenging way.
His triple-decker tale stars Hugh Jackman as Tommy Creo, a present-day scientist desperately searching for a cure for cancer in time to save his wife Izzi (Rachel Weisz) from her terminal illness. Tommy is so consumed with his task that he can't see he's letting his precious remaining time with Izzi slip away. But wait, there's more!
Jackman is also Tomas Creo, a 16th-century Spanish conquistador on a mission for his beloved Queen Isabel (also Weisz). Legend has it that a hidden pyramid conceals the Tree of Life, which possesses miraculous healing powers, and Tomas must find it to save the queen from her enemies. The third strand of the story finds a bald Jackman as Tom Creo, now the caretaker of the Tree of Life, floating through space in some sort of giant snow globe.
He is still haunted by visions of Izzi as he struggles to reach the distant nebula Xibalba, another mystical source of energy and life. It would take a master storyteller to weave these elements into a coherent whole, and although his cult following may disagree, Aronofsky is not the man for the job. His visual pyrotechnics have sometimes obscured the fact that he's a lousy writer, with a knack for leaden dialogue that would make even George Lucas wince.
Izzi barely exists as a character -- she's more of an idealized, beaming presence -- so the central romance doesn't have the emotional weight Aronofsky is straining for. Although he conjures the occasional arresting visual or melancholy mood, the director's attempt at a 2001-esque finale looks like a Nine Inch Nails video gone awry. The whole thing calls to mind Steven Soderbergh's similar attempt at sci-fi romance, Solaris -- another glacial, pretentious snooze.
Director: Darren Aronofsky Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn Length: 96 min.
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