Hugh Jackman And Rachel Weisz's Sci-Fi Movie Became A Cult Classic Despite Poor Reviews

After the excruciating, unsettling "Requiem for a Dream" stirred audiences and critics, director Darren Aronofsky became a name worth watching. It was from that dark entry, which many deemed a one-time watch, that in 2006, he scaled up to an epic romance spanning centuries, with an impressive pair of A-listers at the center of a love story.

"The Fountain" (not to be mistaken with Guy Ritchie's flop) starred Hugh Jackman ("Real Steel") and Rachel Weisz ("Chain Reaction") as characters involved in three storylines that were stretched across time and space. First, a conquistador and a queen; then, in the modern era, a scientist and his dying wife; and, in the far-off future, a space traveler searching the universe to cling to his lost love.

Yet another bold and original entry from Aronofsky, "The Fountain" was a considerably cheerier transition from the final moments of his previous project. Bold in its execution and experimental in every sense of the word, this new director was pouring something different into "The Fountain" that hadn't been done before, which might be why critics didn't like the taste of what they ended up with during the original movie's release. As scientific studies have often shown over the years, critics sometimes know squat about films, especially ones that become cult classics in the years that follow.

"It's difficult to recall another American film that, in pursuing a passionate and personal vision, goes so maddeningly, uproariously wrong." That was the verdict coming from Michael Atkinson of Sight & Sound, who just couldn't see the highlight in "The Fountain." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian also saw the movie as having more style than substance, saying, "There is a strange deadness in the film, together with a callow self-importance and self-pity which become more stultifying with every minute that passes."

Richard Roeper was far more direct in his take, calling it "one of the worst movies of the year." Certainly a bold claim, given that this was the same year we got movies like "Basic Instinct 2," and the Wayans Brothers' dirty diaper of a film that was "Little Man." Thankfully, over time, fans have shown a lot more love for the film, with the audience score on the aggregator site marked at a respectable 74%, and it's understandable as to why. Aronofsky's unique vision delivered a blinding romance spanning eons, with stars putting in three times the usual work. Perhaps, like "The Fountain of Youth," it will become seen as an overlooked science fiction entry in the years to come, with the consensus eventually realizing that it was ahead of its time.