benjamin button
I saw Benjamin Button last night. It was a good movie. I’d recommend seeing it (though I’d recommed seeing Slumdog Millionaire first). A few thoughts:
The movie was too long. There were so many episodes in the movie that could have been cut without changing the overall story. At 2 hours and 48 minutes, I was definitely fighting to stay interested by the end.
The movie was really heavy. I understand that mortality and time are very difficult topics. But, for a Christmas release, I was surprised. The characters in the film were mostly uninspiring, because both the way they were written and the way they were portrayed, which left one hoping to be inspired by the message, which ended up being forced upon the audience at the end in a heavy-handed epilogue. Further, the stilted use of the hospital deathbed and Hurricane Katrina as framing devices was straight up depressing.
Perhaps this was all the intent. But the wonder and curiosity evoked by such a fantastic premise were lost on me.
All things considered, though, it was fun to spend the time pondering life in reverse. And the film did not once disappoint from a design and production standpoint. The settings were all richly crafted and the work done to age the characters was nothing short of magnificent.
