Mike D'Angelo’s review published on Letterboxd:
46/100
I've spent (okay, wasted) a lot of time on Twitter arguing with people about Hansen-Løve's decision to make a film spanning nearly 20 years in which none of the characters visibly age. (Fans claim that this is designed to convey the protagonist's stasis as life passes him by, which would be a compelling argument if [a] the people around him aged and especially if [b] Hansen-Løve's previous film hadn't done the exact same thing. Interviews confirm that she was intent on avoiding bad makeup and opted to do basically nothing instead; I'd have taken that one step further and really done nothing by not making this particular film, knowing that the medium will partially defeat it.) In truth, though, that's a relatively minor objection. Mostly, I just found Eden monotonously shapeless, like a 12" single that recycles the same beat with negligible variations for what feels like eternity. The whole Life of Brian thing in which Daft Punk = Jesus works for me on paper, but Hansen-Løve doesn't seem to realize that we don't know her brother personally and are unable to project anything onto the bland void of a character she's written as his surrogate. Wesley Morris articulates most of my disappointment well, and since I'm running behind on work at the moment, I'll let him finish up.
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_47f342e4-82e0-4346-9d12-b2d62327520b" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-47f342e4-82e0-4346-9d12-b2d62327520b'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-47f342e4-82e0-4346-9d12-b2d62327520b'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-47f342e4-82e0-4346-9d12-b2d62327520b'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_0a30d5f3-bb48-4d71-b9f9-296d07c89eb7" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-0a30d5f3-bb48-4d71-b9f9-296d07c89eb7'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-0a30d5f3-bb48-4d71-b9f9-296d07c89eb7'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-0a30d5f3-bb48-4d71-b9f9-296d07c89eb7'));
