This is a gimmick film that plays with the notion of aging, as did The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  In this case, due to extraordinary circumstances, a woman named Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) never ages after her 29th year, spending the decades having to change her identity as her daughter (Izabel Pearce, Cate Richardson, finally Ellen Burstyn) ages in the normal fashion.  But fate is not finished with Adaline, who is faced with the possibility of real love for the first time in her life.

Lee Toland Krieger’s film is a romantic one at heart.  Adaline would love to be in love, but she has learned that because she never ages, growing old with someone is simply not a possibility.  Her resolve is tested by Ellis (Michiel Huisman), a generous man who is instantly smitten with her, and who has an unwitting connection to her past.  Will Adaline finally allow herself to fully experience life, no matter the cost?

The story is played straight, narrated at times so that no one loses the narrative thread, by a cast that is certainly game.  It’s Blake Lively’s movie, her first truly substantial leading movie role, and she is appropriately coldly aloof.  Huisman is excellent as her suitor, and Ellyn Burstyn, Harrison Ford, Kathy Baker and Amanda Crew find themselves caught in Adaline’s web of intrigue.

Krieger directs with a stylish touch, emphasizing the San Francisco environs that surround his characters.  Adaline’s pooch Reese plays an important part in the drama, especially in regard to illustrating why Adaline’s condition is, or would be, so unfair to family members.  At times her condition is heartrending.  At others, this is merely a fable that is more philosophic exercise than anything else.  It’s a mixed bag that ends with a twist that is as inevitable as the reappearance of the comet that Harrison Ford finds in the story.  ☆ ☆ 1/2.  12 May 2015.