The Fountain

Is it an epic, mythical story of a thousand-year search for eternal life? Or is it a confusing, disjointed tale of time-traveling true love? I had to read the reviews to understand what was going on in The Fountain, and call me stupid, I still don't understand it.

I Netflixed it because of a) Hugh Jackman and b) the science-fiction/action genre. I'm thinking that's a pretty good combination, no?

Hugh plays Tomas, a hairy 16th century conquistador; Tom, a bristly (both literally and figuratively) 21st century medical research scientist; and Taaahhhhmmm, a glabrous 26th century yoga instructor/astronaut. Actually, I just made most of that up, except the part about his being a futuristic cue ball.

Eeenyway, Tom is testing a new compound on monkeys with brain tumors. He has a vested interest because his wife Izzi (Rachel Weisz) is dying from a brain tumor. Izzi is writing a book about a conquistador who is searching for the antediluvian Tree of Life on behalf of the Queen of Spain. Meanwhile, CueBall Yoga Dude is floating around in a bubble eating bark and hallucinating Izzi from 500 years ago.

That about sums up the storyline. It's kind of like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Solaris, with a little bit of The Fifth Element thrown in. Only with lots of crying.

What's going on? It's anybody's guess: reincarnation? time travel? parallel universes? hallucinations? Maybe I could figure it out if I watched it again, but I'm just not that interested.

However, if you saw it, and you have a different perspective, I'd love to hear it.

[Picture Credit: Warner Bros.]