Adventures of Space Tree

Last night we got to see an advance screening for the new film "The Fountain". I was eager to see it as the buzz I heard about it made it sound really different and interesting.

For the most part it was a good film, but left me and most everyone else (judging by the comments of the people around us after it ended) scratching our heads.

Some spoilage may occur below:

The film might be about a Spanish Conquistador (Jackman) that is sent by the queen of Spain (Weisz) to find the fountain of youth; or it might be about a modern day doctor (Jackman) whose wife (Weisz) is dying from a brain tumor; it could also be about an unnamed man (Jackman) traveling through space in a soap bubble with a tree (Weisz?) in it; or it could be about all three of these.

The film gives an explanation for Jackmanquistador that works for me, but the bubble boy bit left me wondering too much. I don't usually need things spelled out for me, and in fact I hate it when film makers feel the need to explain every minute detail of what is happening, but a little more background into this character, or at least how he got into the bubble would have been nice.

I know they were going for a "new take" on the sci-fi genre, but this didn't work for me. I'm sure they wanted it to make people really think about and discuss the story with each other, but it just left most people scratching their heads. It seems like one of those stories that the writer totally knows what is going on, but doesn't realize he hasn't given enough information to the audience for them to get it as well.

I know there are reviewers out there that just love the film, and I was really hoping to be one of them, but alas it really was Nothing To Write Home About.