Confessions of a City Slicker

Right, Benjamin Buttons. The movie that was slated as the biggest rival for Slumdog Millionaire to snare the best picture Oscar.

The movie sure is a curious case, alright, not because the central character was born an old man then ages backward. It’s curious because after watching the first half hour of the movie, one starts to wonder why the makers would want to put their audience through this boring monstrosity. Is it really necessary to make it this long?

I’m so glad I didn’t buy tickets for it but watched the DVD.

Shortly after the opening credits, my mind started to fire questions.

“Where exactly are they going with this story?”

“What’s this scene about again?”

“So we’re at this part of the story now. What was going on before this?”

“Umm…can we move on with the story now? How many years is he younger by now?”

“No, seriously, can things move on a little faster here? Why am I sitting here watching this thing?”

“This is so excruciating. How much longer is this movie anyway?”

Mom couldn’t get over that clock that moves backwards.

It’s no wonder that I can’t find a single coherent review for this movie.

The reviews that I read mostly praised the movie for its “beauty”, whatever that means. If they were referring to the background and artful use of colors then yes, they were beautiful. New Orleans of old was quaint and charming.

Other than that, I believe that the slow pace killed the message of the story because seriously, before I even got to the halfway point, I had lost interest.

Truthfully, I never made it to the part where we get to see the gorgeous Mr Pitt sans old geezer makeup. Oscar for best makeup a well deserved win for Greg Cannom.

I had found it more interesting to look at Mee running around her makeshift obstacle course before deciding to give myself a late night facial.

The story actually moved back and forth, between Benjamin’s love interest, Daisy, getting her daugher or is it her granddaughter, to read Benjamin’s diary to her.

If you want a story about old people reminiscing about their old loves, I’ll recommend you watch The Notebook. At least that one can extract a tear or two.

And yeah, seriously, what is it about that clock that moves backwards?