Seeking out the

5000 greatest films

in a century of cinema

The Tree of Life

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Directed by Terrence Malick
Produced by Sarah Green, Dede Gardner, Brad Pitt, Grant Hill, and Bill Pohlad
Written by Terrence Malick
With: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan, and Fiona Shaw
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Editing: Mark Yoshikawa, Billy Weber, Jay Rabinowitz, Hank Corwin, and Daniel Rezende
Music: Alexandre Desplat
Runtime: 139 min
Release Date: 17 May 2011
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Color: Color
After going years without making a film (his last was The New World in 2005), Terrence Malick burst back into theaters with his most ponderous and meandering film yet. The Tree of Life is so pretentious that not even the strong performances or interesting visuals can make it worth sitting though.  Malick has created a one-note symphony here, and there just are not enough ways to play one note that can sustain even a 90-minute film, let alone one this drawn-out. The Tree of Life is one of those pictures that try to be about everything and ends up being about nothing.