One Paragraph Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button was a perplexing film for me. The first third of the film was captivating and charming and really had me enthralled. Then, in the middle third of the film, the focus clearly turns to the love story, as our two lovers have finally met in the middle (her aging forwards, him backwards). Unfortunately as the love story loses focus, the movie reaches terminal velocity as it sort of hurls towards a conclusion, giving Benjamin's last 20 years not even a shred of the time given to his first 10 years. For a film which admirably tackles such a fascinating story with profound implications, it fell short of leaving me with much to take away from it. Having lived his life in reverse, we anticipate Benjamin's later years, being 50 years old in the body of a 20 year old, to say something profound about life's direction. Instead, we're given a traditional esoteric-Brad-Pitt-in-foreign-lands montage and a hastened (but still very sad) death. Despite this negativity, the film really is quite good. I just wish they won the game swinging with the bases loaded instead of taking a walk.