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Movie Overview
Cast
• Darren Aronofsky
• Hugh Jackman
• Rachel Weisz
Director
• Darren Aronofsky
MPAA Rating
PG-13 - for some violence.
The Fountain (2006)

REVIEWS
NEWS
INTERVIEWS
OTHER
OFCS Rating: 71% Fresh
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3/5
"Seldom in cinema has eschatology been treated with such intelligence, or inspired such aching awe."  Eye for Film  Anton Bitel

"'The Fountain' is a stunning, elegant movie. I found it hypnotic and almost painfully beautiful."  ReelTalk Movie Reviews  Betty Jo Tucker

5/5
"If one would simply switch on their inherent intellect, they'd see the truth behind the tricks -- that is, that The Fountain is an astonishing, evocative experience"  DVD Verdict  Bill Gibron

8/10
"Most people will probably find it pretentious, or too vague, or boring, or even silly. But give it a chance."  Freeze Dried Movies  Brian Juergens

A
"The Fountain is masterful on so many unique levels, presenting a demanding filmgoing experience that should elicit a grand sense of awe on an emotional and spiritual level."  OhmyNews.com  Brian Orndorf

3/5
"interesting without being enthralling, pretty without being striking, and somber without being ominous"  Filmcritic.com  Christopher Null

C+
"Darren Aronofsky is a stylistically visionary director trapped by the limitations of his writing abilities. The Fountain works best as a high-concept sci-fi film with all of its seams showing."  ColeSmithey.com  Cole Smithey

"As Izzie's story becomes Tommy's, it becomes familiar. She's both his end and his means, and so, at last, not quite herself."  PopMatters  Cynthia Fuchs

2/5
"It's Solaris by someone who can mimic the visual beauty of that work but cannot replicate the soul of the it."  eFilmCritic.com  David Cornelius

4/4
"If one is to be left with something in the end, it is the realization that its creator is fully in love with not just the result of his art, but the very happening of it."  Cinemaphile.org  David Keyes

2/4
"Many will extract real meaning from the film; others will simply call its bluff and walk away empty headed."  rec.arts.movies.reviews  David N. Butterworth

2.5/4
"Baffling yet strangely compelling..."  Reel Film Reviews  David Nusair

A
"It's more original than any mainstream or art film I've seen over the past few years."  Ozus' World Movie Reviews  Dennis Schwartz

2/4
"Next time around, it wouldn't be a terrible idea for Aronofsky to allow his characters the chance to smile."  DustinPutman.com  Dustin Putman

B
"I was utterly absorbed in watching it, yet when it was over I had no idea what had happened."  EricDSnider.com  Eric D. Snider

2.5/4
"In its own quest to out-puzzle the conclusion of Kubrick's 2001, The Fountain will madden audiences' receptivity not for answers, but coherency."  eFilmCritic.com  Erik Childress

4/4
"So simple, so elaborate, and yet so utterly brilliant..."  Cinema Crazed  Felix Vasquez Jr.

"The continuous sense of deeply felt discovery tempers the movie's overreaching pretentiousness"  CinePassion  Fernando F. Croce

F
"An artsy-fartsy disaster...a would-be film of ideas that runs dry of them very quickly."  One Guy's Opinion  Frank Swietek

4/5
"A spiritual movie set in three centuries about death, the tree of life, the fountain of youth, and love that will not let us go."  Spirituality and Practice  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

B+
"You have to look back to Malick or Kubrick to find an American filmmaker offering up such a challenging vision to a mainstream audience without apology."  Modern Fabulousity  Gabriel Shanks

A
"By expanding his story, which is essentially just a man dealing with his wife's fatal illness, into a triptych mescaline trip through space and time, Aronofsky uncovers more hard human truths than he'd have been able to through any one story alone."  Cinepinion  Henry Stewart

2.5/4
"Technically, this is an impressive motion picture, but the fragmented story results in poor character development and Aronofsky's clinical approach limits identification."  ReelViews  James Berardinelli

"Had this been the 'Sixties hippies would have watched it stoned . . ."  Sci-Fi Movie Page  James O'Ehley

7/10
"The tastiest fruit [Aronofsky's] talent has come to bear may be mainly an eye-stimulating array of pretty pictures."  Window to the Movies  Jeffrey Chen

8/10
"It's one of those movies that I can see myself watching over and over again...with or without the aid of external stimulants."  JoBlo's Movie Emporium  JoBlo

5/10
"...more a middling entry in the message/sci-fi/fantasy genre than the groundbreaking venture its ponderous tone would lead us to believe."  DVDTown.com  John J. Puccio

4/4
"At once incredibly dense and disconcertedly simple, utterly over the top and sincerely down to earth, profoundly saddening and defiantly hopeful."  Montreal Film Journal  Kevin N. Laforest

A-
"This magical, mystical and moving film is stunning to look at and Hugh Jackman's performance is one of the best of the year."  Reeling Reviews  Laura Clifford

3/4
"An intoxicatingly beautiful but painfully simplistic fable about love and death."  TV Guide's Movie Guide  Maitland McDonagh

3/4
"Even with Aronofsky's unrestrained indulgence, this is an intellectually and sometimes emotional stimulating experience."  Mark Reviews Movies  Mark Dujsik

4/10
"Mystic pizza. Aronofsky is less interested in coherence than in creating New Age-ish cosmic images."  rec.arts.movies.reviews  Mark R. Leeper

4.5/5
"Incredibly honest and emotional filmmaking that's not afraid to slip up in its pursuit of something beautiful."  Goatdog's Movies  Michael W. Phillips, Jr.

3.5/4
"Beautiful and profoundly moving...This is a film I want to see several more times."  Aisle Seat  Mike McGranaghan

3/4
"In its own sappy way as daring and gonzo as Aronofsky's hyper-stylized trip down heroin lane, Requiem for a Dream."  Slant Magazine  Nick Schager

4/5
"Uma fábula filosófica que pode ser encarada como filhote contemporâneo de obras como 2001 Uma Odisséia no Espaço, de Kubrick, e Solaris, de Tarkovsky."  Cinema em Cena  Pablo Villaca

2.5/5
"The Fountain is "Love, Aronofsky Style:" it's his meditation on life and death - specifically, the mechanisms by which we cope (or don't) with loss..."  Film Threat  Pete Vonder Haar

4.5/5
"Lyrical and haunting, this film is a powerfully engaging examination of mortality and grief wrapped up in a sci-fi fantasy."  Shadows on the Wall  Rich Cline

5/5
"It's a simple story told with Zen directness, its fingers deep in the age-old questions, its eyes and ears wide open to the sensual potential of cinema."  eFilmCritic.com  Rob Gonsalves

"Yes, The Fountain is ridiculously pretentious, pining for your attention like a sixth grade emo kid. And I love it to pieces."  Projection Booth  Rob Humanick

C+
"For all the thunderous beauty on-screen, its profundities exist more in the concept than the execution."  Flipside Movie Emporium  Rob Vaux

A
"This film can be understood on multiple levels, and can be misunderstood on multiple levels."  Laramie Movie Scope  Robert Roten

A-
"This is a terrifically stylish film that warrants multiple viewings to catch the director's subtleties of story and multi-layered meaning."  Reeling Reviews  Robin Clifford

4/4
"One of the year's best films, an emotionally honest drama steeped in love and loss."  Charlotte Weekly  Sean O'Connell

"This film raises an interesting question: How far is a viewer willing to follow a talented filmmaker down a rabbit hole, when it becomes clear that said filmmaker has lost his way?"  ESplatter  Steve Biodrowski

6/10
"Audaciously spiritual and original - and just because you can't figure it out doesn't mean that there's not something interesting going on."  www.susangranger.com  Susan Granger

4/4
"As deeply emotional and damnably frustrating as any work of pure individual vision must be."  Film Freak Central  Walter Chaw

3/4
Read review  Big Picture Big Sound  Joe Lozito

Read review  Flick Filosopher  MaryAnn Johanson
OFCS Rating: 71% Fresh
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