Ryan’s Rant: ‘The Tree of Life’ is a pretentious piece of sh*t


I know I’m late on seeing “The Tree of Life” but I am glad that I waited. I’m just going to say it…this movie is TERRIBLE! There have been few films that I have seen that have actually brought me to a boiling point but this film is going on my personal shit list. Terrence Malick had to have paid off someone to get so many positive reviews for this film.

 

I understood the premise and the message the movie was sending to the audience but there was too much effort in making this film a deep think piece. I love subtleties in film and underlying themes that can only be uncovered by those who are truly watching a film, but these underlying themes distance the audience from key elements such as character development and an actual plot. Movies still have to have some elements that are apparent to the audience because if you go too deep eventually the audience can’t come up for air and will drowned in all the bullshit. “The Tree of Life” is honestly a pretentious piece of shit. We understand the “circle of life” theme because it’s been done so many times, but I honestly think that people were afraid to say they didn’t like this film because it was so deep and they didn’t want to be someone who didn’t factor in the underlying theme in their review.

 

Spoiler alert, don’t read any further if you haven’t seen this film. This film is about a man’s internal conflict of dealing with the loss of a sibling earlier in his life and the impact of his parent’s different methods of parenting. Great plot for a dramatic movie until you throw in a bunch of abruptly random scenes of nature and space that are surrounded by whispering of the words “Mother” and “Father” over and over again. Not to mention you see the damn ‘tree of life’ image every thirty seconds. The one good thing I will say is that there were some great shots but there were also some amazing shots in the “Planet Earth” documentary and I would prefer David Attenborough or Sigourney Weaver providing commentary rather than hearing the same words whispered throughout the film.

 

I’m not going to be one of those who pretends this is a good film because Terrence Malick wants to show off how profound of an artist he can be. In dissecting this film there are so many elements that are weakened because of the focus on the overall theme. I know there is going to be disagreement but for the general public…STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THIS FILM!

 

 

Comment with Facebook

About Ryan

First and foremost, Ryan Brown is a fan. He has been an avid fan of both the theater and cinema since an early age and his passion for both has been continually growing ever since. When dissecting a film, he focuses on all elements of film-making including some fan/cult factors. He believes that character development is the foundation of a good film and usually starts his analysis of a film from there moving forward. His writing style may be influenced by his background of narrative and argumentative studies in the subject, but he tends to enjoy a more conversational style to better interact with the readers, unlike some other pretentious and pompous writers.

9 thoughts on “Ryan’s Rant: ‘The Tree of Life’ is a pretentious piece of sh*t

  1. i wholeheartedly agree…this movie is a sleeper. No! literally a sleeper..i will use this film as a sleep aid when im restless. yes it has some nice visuals…but i watch movies for one thing…THE STORY!! this film is mindless babble from an idiotic, inebriated, dreamer of a nincompoop! i fastforwarded thru 95% of this drivel..movies should be fun to watch..and just like “Inception” this film takes too much goddamn effort to enjoy. Fucking Bullshit is what it really is! Fuck It!

  2. The Brad Pitt parts were good – but how they tied into dinosaurs being merciful I still don’t fully understand. Fans of Eraserhead might get a kick out of it though.

  3. I agree with you 100%, maybe not as harsh but I agree nonetheless. I do believe that Malick had a good idea on showing this film in the way that he did but I completely agree when I say that I tried to enjoy this movie as much as I could but I found myself “drowning” in every image and un-subtle clip of space or trees as well. I found his cinematography profound and loved what he did with Pitt and Chastain but Penn was completely wasted and most of the movie was filled with useless fluff that just didn’t work. 

Leave a Reply