Surreal movie about a physician's quest to defeat death and save his wife.

Rating: Null/10 (24 May 2007)

This is a movie where the numerical rating does not do much to help one decide if they want to see it. For those who like fairly clear, mostly linear stories, they will probably see this one and at the end say, "That was a pretty weird movie." For those who like to expand their viewing experience and occasionally see something totally different, this is a good one. I enjoyed it, but only after viewing some of the extras on the DVD. The visuals are stunning, he acting first-rate. The title of the movie, which is the title of Izzy's book, is a reference to the Fountain of Youth, or the biblical Tree of Life.
The core of the story is in present time, Hugh Jackman is Dr. Tom Creo, experimenting with tumors in primates, trying to find a cure for cancer. He is very close to the subject because Rachel Weisz as his wife Izzi (Isabel) is dying. Every day he is torn between spending more time with her, and spending time in the laboratory.
Izzy decides to write a book titled "The Fountain." Part of the movie is set in 1500 Spain with Izzy as Queen Isabella, the same one that commissioned the 1492 expedition of Columbus, and Tom as conquistador Thomas. It is the acting out of her book. She never finishes it and asks Tom to finish it for her.
The other part of the movie is set 500 years in the future and I consider it Tom's dreams, his own personal quest for immortality, the Tree of Life, whose sap will heal any wound and give one eternal life. We see him in a giant bubble with a tree, and apparently floating through space. Ever so often Izzy visits him there.
Other than that, there is no easy and clear way to describe the movie. At its core is a man's love for his wife and his desire to short-circuit death. In a sense the ending says that we cannot do that, we must be content to look forward to an afterlife.