Aesthetically pleasing and spiritually rich, but not compelling

Rating: 4/10 (29 October 2015)

Released in 2007, "The Fountain" features three stories in its plot: The main story is that of a modern-day medical researcher, Tom (Hugh Jackman), trying to find a cure for cancer, which would save his dying wife, Izzy (Rachel Weisz). The other two stories involve a conquistador (also Jackman) in Mayan country trying to find a legendary "tree of life," and a bald space-traveler (Jackman again) in a bubble partaking from the "tree of life" therein. Ellen Burstyn is on hand as Tom's superior in the medical facility.
If you're familiar with director Darren Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream" (2000) then you know he's more interested in creating cinematic art than popcorn fodder for the masses. "The Fountain" belongs in the former category and this makes it a hard film to critique. On the one hand, it's an aesthetically pleasing picture and very well made, but, on the other, it's simply not a compelling experience and therefore I'm not interested in viewing it again. The only way I was able to get through it was because I viewed it with my wife and we kept ourselves entertained.
Keep in mind that I very much appreciate artistic films and enjoy trying to figure them out, etc. but the most important element of any movie is a compelling story and the corresponding interesting characters to hook the viewer for two hours or so. Without these it'll be a boring experience regardless of the beautiful and innovative images, music, sets, editing, F/X, etc. This is why I'll give a low-budget movie with weak sets and F/X a positive review if the story is effective and contains rich subtext. I'm sure a lot of thought was put into the script of "The Fountain" and the subtext thereof – in fact, my INTERPRETATION below shows this – but at the end of the day the movie's a dull experience despite its awesome aesthetics. Moreover, the deeper elements – while well-intentioned – are more laughable than profound.
Francis Ford Coppola is an artistic filmmaker like Aronofsky (and no doubt his mentor) and Coppola's "Youth Without Youth" is cut from the same cloth as "The Fountain," not to mention released the same year. While it has the same problems as "The Fountain" it works better because the story's more interesting and Coppola was sure to throw in some hooks for the viewer despite the film's thematic and aesthetic depth.
The film runs 96 minutes and was shot in Montreal, Canada, with an establishing shot of Philadelphia.
GRADE: C-
INTERPRETATION ***SPOILER ALERT*** (Don't read further unless you've seen the movie):
The conquistador story is fictional because it's Izzy's novel whereas the modern-day story is reality. As such, Izzy imagines the noble swordsman to be her husband (but with a different name) and herself as Queen Isabel. The spaceman story is Tom's final chapter of Izzy's book.