Ron Howard is a director who has done it all in his career. He’s been making movies since the early 80s, but he was a television star in his younger years. He literally grew up in front of our eyes. His early work includes Splash, Willow,  and Cocoon, but it’s his 90s/2000s films that have garnered him a lot of critical acclaim and awards. Films like Far and Away, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Backdraft, and Cinderella Man are the ones that resonate with me the most. Even his last movieThirteen Lives was pretty good, but his latest wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. Maybe it was the disconnect I had with the foreign feel it had. I don’t know.

In 1929, Dr Friedrick Ritter (Jude Law) is a writer who lives on the Galapagos Islands with his sick wife Dora Strauch Ritter (Venessa Kirby). He’s studying the world they live in and writing down his thoughts in a journal. They thought they would be on the Islands alone, but because of some medical articles he wrote, people started to come to the Islands. A young couple, Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Bruhl) and Margaret Wittmer (Sidney Sweeney), come to live and want to settle there. They plan their lives around every aspect of what they encounter there, including the other couple. When a third party arrives, this makes matters worse. Ana De Armas plays a so-called Baroness  Eloise Bosquet, and she has her entourage, and they start trouble with these other pairs of people. This is where I would say three’s company doesn’t necessarily work.

This story had a lot going for it, but it just doesn’t all come together in the end. Things like pregnancy, disease, and bad weather are all part of the story that cause trouble. The thing is, it’s the people who are the real problems on this island. I don’t understand how these people couldn’t leave each other alone. If it were just the first two couples I mentioned, I think things could have been fine eventually.  It’s when the De Armas character entered the picture that things started to get out of hand. She wasn’t doing so well, and so she set the guys from her entourage against the others. Throwing her into the ointment wasn’t necessarily good for the story either. This was based on a true story, though, so the writers couldn’t change that aspect of the story.

There are some good things about this film. Howard is a good director, as I’ve mentioned. He was able to assemble this amazing cast for this movie, so you know those who signed on thought it was a good idea to adapt this story to film. The production design is pretty good, and the period, early 19th century, costumes are very good. I’d be surprised if anybody complained about the technical aspects of this movie. It’s the story as a whole that is a bit wonky. I don’t know if this story needed to be made. Unless the craziness that it depicts was what Howard and the writers were going for on purpose. Maybe they were, who knows? It’s just a strange story to me.

The performances from the five main actors are okay, not great. I was totally in on the performances from Bruhl and Sweeney. They honestly had me believing in their character’s journey throughout the film.They did the things I’d expect from settlers of a new land. Law is pretty good as the doctor as well. He gives one of his better performances in a while. I have liked him in The Order and the Disney+ Star Wars show, The Skeleton Crew, but other things like Firebrand I didn’t like at all. He is capable of giving great performances every time out sometimes lately he phones it in though. Ana De Armas gives an annoying performance, though. I hated her character from the first moment I saw her land on the beach. Maybe that was on purpose, but I still hated her anyway. Overall, the cast did a good job, though. I was glad I saw them in it.

I like a good period piece film. Howard is good at making them. Many of the ones I already mentioned fall into that category. Obviously, the director has a big say in the story, but Noah Pink’s screenplay is filled with crazy situations. Based on true events is the key here, but just because it’s true doesn’t necessarily mean it needed to be made. This is such a minor story in history. All I can say is who wanted this story turned into a movie. It doesn’t give me horror vibes or suspense thrillers. It just comes across as goofy and ridiculous. I was scratching my head the entire time I was watching this film. That’s not a good thing.

Eden is a misleading title for this movie. It probably refers to the place that eventually turned into a paradise years later. That title doesn’t give any positive vibes for this film. The cast are doing the best they can with the script they are given. Bruhl and Sweeney are the best of the entire ensemble. The production design and technical aspects are pretty good considering who is at the helm of this film. The story is the biggest issue with this film. It gives the vibes of a foreign film, which may play into why it turned me off so much. I didn’t care about most of these people. If it just focused on the Bruhl and Sweeney characters, I’d be fine. Alas, it doesn’t, and because of that, I can’t give it a positive review. I know Howard will come back, though, with another solid film in the near future. This wasn’t it, though.

2 stars

Dan Skip Allen