The Fountain (2006)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

With his beloved wife suffering from terminal cancer, a scientist works hard to find a miraculous cure for her terrible disease, while having trouble with the terrible thought that they might get separated way too soon. At the same time, two more stories unfold, one in ancient Spain and the other in space, all somehow linked, presenting the idea of a man who seeks eternal life with his beloved.It's an unique movie, one which presents three apparently different stories but which all have the same core concept. Each male character swears to do everything in his power for a chance to spend time with his lover, forever if possible. It's full of drama and emotion, presenting in detail the sufferings of the characters, their desperate attempts to fulfil their quests and what lies ahead for each of them. You simply have to be very though in order not to drop a tear, as this movie seems determined to make you cry with it's very well developed characters and its parallel stories.Although it seems confusing from time to time, changing the story almost out of nowhere, it manages to keep the viewer interested and curious about what will happen next. It manages to link two of the stories pretty well, this being the main point of interest in my opinion, but the third one seems a bit off. It tries to present the spiritual part of the story, but it somehow left the feeling that it wasn't all that connected as it should have been.All in all, I really liked this movie. It brought plenty of drama which makes you care for the characters and their fate, thus keeping you eager to find out how it ends. It's unique idea manages to be at the same time it's most important plus but also a bit of a let-down, in terms of connection. I had a very good time with it so I will definitely recommend it to anyone. It brings something new, a fresh idea, and this alone deserves recognition, not to mention the feelings involved throughout.

I was intrigued by this film for a few reasons, because of the leading actor and actress, because of the director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan, Mother!), and because it was rated highly by critics, I hoped for something great. Basically it involves three story lines, taking place in three interweaving narratives, in three places in time, with the same characters in three guises. The past is the 16th century, during the time of the Mayans, the present is 2005, in a hospital, and the future is the 26th century, in a spaceship with a biosphere. In the past, Conquistador Tomás Verde (Hugh Jackman) searches for the Tree of Life, offering immortality, for him and his love, Queen Isabella (Rachel Weisz). In the present, Tom Creo (Jackman) is a doctor losing his wife Izzi (Rachel Weisz) to cancer, she begs him to spend what time they have left together, but he desperately seeks a cure. In the future, space traveller Tommy (Jackman) spends most of his time enclosed in the biosphere, containing the Tree of Life he seeded, above the grave of Isabel. The three stories are in a non-linear and non chronological order, interwoven with match cuts and visual motifs, it is essential the same story each time, with lovers connected by the fate of the "fountain", but ultimately the characters have to learn come to terms with death. Also starring Ellen Burstyn as Dr. Lillian Guzetti, Mark Margolis as Father Avila, Stephen McHattie as Grand Inquisitor Silecio, Fernando Hernandez as Lord of Xibalba, Cliff Curtis as Captain Ariel, Sean Patrick Thomas as Antonio and Ethan Suplee as Manny. Jackman and Weisz give good performances, there are certainly plenty of visually engaging moments, I will be completely honest though, it is not a movie that is easy to follow, as long as you understand the love story, and get the gist of the philosophical stuff about love, immortality, death and the meaning of life, it is a pretty perplexing but profound enough experience, an interesting enough romantic science-fiction drama. It was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Original Score for Clint Mansell. Good!

Sorry but there are very few movies I cannot watch all the way through but sadly this is one of them. Despite a great cast and no doubt some expensive special effects, the way this movie was written and directed was just awful. It is pretty much impossible to follow, some tell me you need to watch it to the end to maybe get it, but life is too short for that.It starts off OK but quickly progresses into more and more nonsense and I was watching this with others who were equally bewildered.Perhaps the worse aspect of the movie is that very quickly I didn't relate to or care for any of the characters. No one in this movie behaves the way anyone in real life would behave.One of the worse movies I have tried to watch ... ever!

Fantastic movie with fantastic special effects graphics. Darren use real world chemical reactions for creating space effect in this movie, and this is fantastic. I saw this movie 2 times in a row and 4 times totally. Very impressive scenario and very deep idea and "language of cinema"