This may come as a shock but there was a good deal of controversy surrounding a Terrence Malick movie. Yeah, go figure. Just as his The Tree of Life was met with polarizing reception on the festival circuit, Malick's To the Wonder was....well, let's just say it was "harshly received" in Venice. Par for the course, but if you loved his last film and appreciate Malick's sweeping ruminations on love and spirituality, then To the Wonder is probably going to be high on your must-see list.
Other than a handful of still photos, we've seen next to nothing from To the Wonder, but now the first trailer has been unveiled, and if you loved Emmanuel Lubezki's poetic cinematography in The Tree of Life then prepare for a film that looks just as gorgeous. Ben Affleck stars as a man who returns to his Oklahoma home with his new European bride(Olga Kurylenko), only to reconnect with his childhood sweetheart played by Rachel McAdams. Javier Bardem, who received the bulk of audience scorn, turns up as a priest suffering from a crisis of faith. Entrancing imagery abounds, and the sheer majesty of that score simply can't be overstated. Malick pumped this one out pretty quickly, for him anyway, but he doesn't appear to have let up on the emotional throttle in the least. To the Wonder opens April 12th....[The Guardian]
