Early Review: Strong ambiguity and surrealism didn't have a heavy presence in film until the French New Wave, when Bunuel and Bergman were free to stimulate the mind while torturing the heart. While many of these films were visually stunning and poetic, sometimes the subject matter could make Sylvia Plath stick her head in an oven. Still, I applaud any studio willing to take a risk and make something outside the bounds of romantic comedies and "Explosion, the Movie".

Fortunately, while Darren Aronofsky falls short of the agony in say, CRIES AND WHISPERS, it also doesn't match the of the brilliance of 2001, A SPACE ODESSEY, to which THE FOUNTAIN will likely find some deserved comparison.

Darren Aronofsky has twice proven his willingness to hold some cards close to his chest like background, character depth and context. We rarely know much about his characters except for the grueling and inevitably painful task which lies before them for the course of the film. But in exchange he pours buckets of interesting and compelling visuals upon the audience which are always accompanied by a thematic chaser. The ever-present gold light that unites the three parallel characters (all played passionately and convincingly by Hugh Jackman) is both a harbinger of the inevitable, if not slightly overdone.

A Conquistador questing for the fabled Tree of Life for his beloved Queen, a doctor tireless working to find a cure for his wife's brain tumor, and an enlightened man from the 26th century accompanying the Tree of Life to its mythical birthplace in a dying star are all on the same quest for life.

The three stories are tenuously tied together in a variety of ways, however trying to decipher any literal connections (is it the same person exactly?) quickly becomes unimportant. For the sake of marketing and accessibility, the movie has been described as "one man's 1000 year struggle to save the woman he loves." While there are some obvious indicators tying the future timeline to the present storyline, the audience would do well to abandon any hopes of making concrete connections between the various time-lines and embrace the emotional and thematic through-line. Oddly enough, there was clearly direction at some level (studio, I'm looking at you) to ensure that the audience understands the Tree of Life in the future is the current embodiment of Izzy from the present storyline via many, many shots of the hairline on Weisz's neck contrasted against the fine hairs on the bark of the tree.

If any ambiguity of specifics would potentially alienate, the warm and very real performances of both Jackman and Rachel Weisz bring a level of humanity, passion and familiarity to a film more concerned with ethereal, religious, and epic ideas of mortality and death. Additionally, the skilled editing of Jay Rabinowitz facilitates seamless and natural transitions between what could have been cumbersome switches between drastically different scenes in less capable hands. The cinematography of Matthew Libatique lends poetry to a production that was wholesale dipped in gold light. While he seemingly had one color on his palate to paint with, he still managed to make the end result interesting.

In the end, THE FOUNTAIN is a slightly heavy-handed parable about the enduring immortality of love in the face of the inevitability of death. It will certainly draw tears from some and many lengthy discussions at college coffee houses across the country. If you prefer the cinematic heavy lifting to be done less by quiet visuals and are more Shakespearean in their exploration of the big questions, wait for the next Wes Anderson film.

But Movie-goers that have the patience for and appreciate films like DONNIE DARKO, DANCER IN THE DARK and Aronofksy's earlier work will love THE FOUNTAIN.

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