To surreal about life.

My rating would probably be two stars **Opening of film was confusing and lacked focus--very hard to tell where it was going and who the main characters would be.Realistic and believable performances by all actors, especially children, who may be "unreliable narrators."Finest special effects: Rodrigo running through the olive groves as he matured.Film should have ended with last shot of Rodrigo and his new life. Closing shot of parents/grandparents diminished ending.

It had many fine well known actors; but it seemed contrive & poorly directed. I was disappointed. Annette Benning’s acting was uncharacteristicly poor.

The chapters feel jumpy and disconnected until the very end of the movie. And even the ending seemed rushed and thrown together. The trajedies come off like plot devices instead of character explorations. We never get to know characters long enough to feel bad for them, except maybe Rodrigo. Abby and Will never had time to develop outside of their relationship, which is cutesy and generic. I never felt for or understood any of the characters so I never felt bad for them even when the movie was trying super hard to make me sad.