Like a cute puppy, this romantic drama starring Blake Lively as a woman who doesn’t age will wag its tail so you’ll find it irresistible and take it home. Not this time. There’s nothing terribly wrong about “The Age of Adaline”, it’s just that it rarely rises to its potential. And the movie does have a potential: Lively plays a woman, born in 1908, who drives off a bridge into freezing water and dies in the late 1930s. A few minutes later she is struck by lightning and revives, and from then on, she can’t age a day. Intriguing premise, I have to admit. Plus Lee Toland Krieger is the go-to-guy for directing romantic films (see “Celeste & Jesse Forever). But Krieger loses focus at some point and lets the story’s appeal run off as vapor. And what’s worse, the movie becomes downright predictable only halfway through. All that’s left for us is to admire Blake Lively’s performance (and she gives it her best), but clearly this isn’t enough to validate the overall result.

Rating: 2/4