If you look closely at MPAA ratings, they allude to each film’s potentially problematic content. For instance, Furious 7 received a “PG-13” rating due to “prolonged frenetic sequences of violence, action and mayhem, suggestive content and brief strong language”.

2015’s The Age of Adaline came with the oddest MPAA disclaimer I’ve ever noticed. Was the movie “PG-13” due to violence or profanity or nudity? Nope – the MPAA gave it that rating “for a suggestive comment”.

This weirdness meant I had to give Age a look. In the late 1930s, 29-year-old Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) suffers a severe car crash that should have killed her. However, Adaline survives, and a bizarre sequence of events grants her a shocking “gift”: she never shows physical signs of aging and permanently looks 29.

Because this creates questions and curiosity – especially from governmental agencies eager to understand the phenomenon - Adeline eventually abandons her real identity and adopts a series of aliases over the years. We see how Adaline adapts to different eras and circumstances, with an emphasis on how her 2015 romance with Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman), a young man with a connection to her past.

While the notion of an immortal character may not be totally original, it creates an intriguing premise, especially since Age doesn’t really pursue a supernatural course. It’s not like it makes Adaline a vampire or some God-like being; she’s just an otherwise ordinary woman who doesn’t get older.

Unfortunately, Age fails to capitalize on its story’s possibilities. Rather than dig into the ramifications of Adaline’s form of immortality, the film uses the premise as the framework for a pretty basic romantic drama.

Granted, there’s nothing wrong with romantic dramas. They’re not usually my cup of tea, but I won’t besmirch the genre and dismiss them out of hand.

When a story comes with so many intriguing threads, though, it seems like a shame to watch it ignore them to such a heavy degree. Age glances in the vague direction of its thematic implications but then immediately scurries back to the world of romantic melodrama.

This leaves it as little more than a mediocre “chick flick”, and that becomes even more of a shame since I think it wastes a fine lead performance from Lively. Her Adaline may look 29, but Lively imbues her with the weight of the years – and the paranoia – of the character’s life. Lively demonstrates real prowess in the role and becomes easily its biggest strength.

Huisman proves less effective as Ellis. Granted, he gets a pretty lackluster role, but he still doesn’t manage to bring much to the part. Given that we’re supposed to believe Adaline may sacrifice her hard-won secrecy for him, we should see Ellis as the literal catch of the century.

He’s not. Huisman is handsome enough, and he provides a moderate level of affable charm, but his Ellis never really seems like an especially fascinating/charismatic character. He serves the role of Unobjectionable Love Interest and not much more.

Add to this a profoundly silly ending and Age of Adaline disappoints. I thought it might give us a good mix of romance, drama and fantasy, but instead, it just becomes a lackluster melodrama.

By the way, I believe the movie’s aforementioned “PG-13” comes from the scene in which Ellis’s sister asks Adaline “have you done him yet?” I think it’s strange that this one line apparently knocked the movie from “PG” to “PG-13”, but who can explain the ways of the MPAA?

Perplexing credits footnote: the movie’s screenplay comes billed to “J. Mills Goodloe & Salvador Paskowitz and J. Mills Goodloe”. There must be a good reason Goodloe gets two credits, but I don’t know what it is. Maybe he and Paskowitz wrote the script together but then Goodloe did a thorough rewrite on his own?

The Age of Adaline appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The film came with a fairly good image.

For the most part, sharpness seemed positive. Occasionally, I saw a bit of softness, especially during interiors. However, the majority of the film delivered nice clarity and accuracy. I saw no jagged edges or moiré effects, and the presentation lacked source defects.

In terms of palette, Age tended to mix teal and amber. This never became a dynamic set of hues, but the colors seemed appropriately rendered. Blacks appeared dark and tight, while shadows looked smooth and clear. In the end, the image remained generally solid.

To my surprise, Age offered a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. A new format, Atmos usually pops up with big action movies, not character dramas like this.

Because I don’t have an Atmos-equipped system, this played back as a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix. Despite the sonic possibilities available, Age came with a fairly restrained soundscape.

The mix did pop to life on occasion. Adaline’s car crash used the various channels well, and a few other scenes brought us pretty involving use of the different speakers. However, those remained in the minority, as most of the track focused on music and general ambience.

Audio quality seemed satisfactory. Music was full and rich, while effects appeared accurate and dynamic. Dialogue always came across as smooth and natural. Nothing here dazzled, but the soundtrack worked fine for the story.

Age comes with a mix of extras, and we start with an audio commentary from director Lee Toland Krieger. He delivers a running, screen-specific look at sets and locations, visual design and cinematography, cast and performances, editing, story/characters, deleted scenes, and related areas.

Krieger offers a chat that mostly looks at technical areas, and that’s usually fine. While I’d like to hear more about the creative side, he touches on a good array of topics and does so in a manner that provides a solid series of details. Krieger gives us a chat that manages to add to our understanding of the film.

Three featurettes follow. A Love Story for the Ages runs 29 minutes, 38 seconds and offers notes from Krieger, producers Gary Lucchesi, Richard Wright and Tom Rosenberg, production designer Claude Pare, costume designer Angus Strathie, director of photography David Lanzenberg, and actors Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn.

We learn about story/characters and the flick’s path to the screen, historical/period elements, production design and sets/locations, costumes and photography, cast/performances, and general thoughts. “Ages” covers a good array of production elements in a satisfying manner.

During the 18-minute, 19-second Style Throughout the Ages, we hear from Krieger, Huisman, Ford, Lively, Lucchesi, Wright, Strathie, Pare, Lanzengerg, Rosenberg and screenwriter J. Mills Goodloe. “Style” examines different visual motifs across the movie’s many chronological eras, with an emphasis on costumes, hair/makeup, production design, and cinematography. The program acts as a nice complement to the prior featurette.

Finally, Discovering Young Harrison Ford goes for eight minutes, 19 seconds and features Krieger, Goodloe, Lively, Rosenberg, Ford, and actor Anthony Ingruber. We learn how Ingruber got the role as the younger version of the Ford character and aspects of his performance. This becomes a fun look at an unusual casting call.

Two Deleted Scenes last a total of four minutes, 30 seconds. The first highlights Adaline’s secrecy and paranoia about others learning her secret, while the second shows a health scare with Adaline’s daughter. Both are interesting but not essential.

The disc opens with ads for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, The DUFF and Love and Mercy. No trailer for Age shows up here.

A second disc presents a DVD copy of Adaline. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.

Although The Age of Adaline comes with an intriguing premise, it mostly wastes its potential on sappy romance. Lead actor Blake Lively occasionally gives it motion, but too much of the movie bogs down in bland drama. The Blu-ray offers good picture and audio along with a nice roster of supplements. Parts of Age work but too much of it seems ordinary.