Ebert's Review of ToL

    One word repeats itself multiple times throughout the entirety of Rodger Ebert's review of Tree of Life: open. Open windows, open doors, open to emotions - that's more times than can be considered coincidence. An educated and well-practiced writer would know that carelessly repeating the same word throughout any writing is tacky, and Ebert is no different. Open is exactly what you have to be in order to fully appreciate and understand Malick's vision. You have to be prepared for the fact that your entire existence is about to be thrown through a hurricane and what's left standing on the other side is going to be bare and unstable at best. Our generation is significantly less religious than those of Ebert's generation, so for most of us, the film never fully hit home because right at the beginning of the film is a quote from the bible, throwing off those of us that aren't spiritually inclined. It takes a true filmgoer to get passed the quote and the exceptionally long creation of the universe sequence, to find the subtext of the film, which I think Ebert brought to light in his own subtle way.
    He points out the fact that no one in this film has names, except for Jack, and that is by no means a dazzling name. Generic and unimpressive, the O' Brien family is nothing but ordinary for 1950's Texas, as Ebert points out. This was a deliberate move on Malick's part because ordinary people with no names attached to their faces have an uncanny ability of reflecting parts of our souls back to us. Ebert even said that seeing the film brought him back to growing up in the "American Midlands, where life flows in and out through open windows." A clever line here by Ebert. In the beginning of the movie, just before we see Mrs. O' Brien floating in front of a tree (the Tree of Life?), we see Sean Penn sort of feeling his way outside. It looks almost like he is feeling the breeze on him, through his hands. And then we see his mother, a young woman, floating in mid air. It almost is like life floats on the breeze, and that he feels his mothers love in that life that he had as a little boy. Arguments can be made for the other elements as well: fire for remembrance and the sun; water is pure, its where we begin and gives us life; earth is everything God made for us. When God asked Job "Where were you when I laid the earths foundations?" this was Jack O' Brien's answer. He wasn't there when God made everything, so all the things he went through were meant to test his love. His mother says at the end that "the only way to be happy is to love. The less you love, your life will flash before your eyes." This is where Jack realizes that his life did flash before his eyes because he failed to love his living family, failed to unflinchingly live in the ways of Nature and in God's grace.