Saturday, January 10, 2009

Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

While I do not usually provide movie reviews here, Josh and I saw the Benjamin Button movie today. I thought I would provide my review of this movie because it touched me so strongly. It encouraged us all to live our lives to the fullest and it is never too late to make a change in your lives.
Throughout the movie I went through a range of emotions. It reminded me of The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile or Forest Gump. All of these movies had a morale. They had a narrator. They provide a life story or at least a large portion of a life’s story as provided by the narrator. All of these stories left you thinking as you left the theater. All of these stories were very long. This movie was close to 3 hours.

There were plenty of special effects, especially when it came to making people look older or younger.
Plus, I love just watching Brad Pitt. He is a great actor, but beyond that, he has the most beautiful face and body. I know he hates being epitomized as an object. But I, for one, do not look at him as an object. He is entirely and wholely one wonderful work of God’s art. You can also feel he has a heart and a soul and a caring for human kind. Maybe this is part of why some people become actors. They wear their feelings, their emotions on their sleeves. You see and feel their portrayal on screen. He was destined to become an actor and that is why so many people relate to him. I am sure this is how Angelina Jolie felt about him when they filmed Mr. and Mrs. Smith together. She could not help herself but to fall in love with him. And, from a male perspective, I guess that is how many males feel about her, although I must confess. She is so beautiful, I love her beauty and her emotions as she portrays them on-screen.
Brad looks like my grandson. My grandson is 7 years old, but he is so beautiful and handsome and gorgeous to look at, he makes your heart and soul grow just looking at him. I feel the same about Brad Pitt. They make your heart grow and marvel at God’s greatness just by looking at them. But this is much more than handsome. It is the way they make you feel about yourself and the world.
There were some downsides to the movie. Towards the end, when he made a key decision in the movie, the movie almost became boring and foreboding. I did not want to see it end the way it did although I knew that was the way it had to end. It was like a slap in the face back to reality. All good things cannot last. This is what troubled me most about the movie. It took us to a crescendo! A Crescendo!!!! And then it slapped us in the face, back to reality. Back down to the human state of mind. I was almost insulted, betrayed, that it had to end as it did, although I understood why it had to end this way.
This is a movie many people will remember and talk about for years to come. We will see endless replays of it on cable TV. Someday, maybe we will view it in Virtual Reality, sort of like the end of Soylent Green.
Will I watch it again? Yes. But I probably won't see it in a movie theater again. Instead, I will probably wait for it to come out on cable. Just like Shawshank Redemption or Green Mile or Forest Gump. I won't see it in the movie theater again. I predict it will become a cable icon.

7 comments:

. said...

I find this interesting:
The director, David Fincher, has mostly directed music related things. He has a broader range when it comes to being a producer though.

Now the writers (Eric Roth and Robin Swicord) on the other hand, have had some pretty decent titles under their belts collectively. Including Forest Gump, The Postman, Matilda, Munich, Memoirs of a Geisha, ETC.

I actually want to see this movie. I believe one reason that it appeals to some is that it challenges, although singularly, what we believe is natural. A person aging younger.....

But the 'girls' will focus on the love story of course......

Dee said...

This is a story. A well thought out story. It is like Memoirs of a Geisha, Forest Gump, Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile in that way.

But there is also something magical about the characters and the acting, especially Brad Pitt.

I know most men get jealous when we women say this but its true. Brad Pitt is magical because of his acting, his emotions, his ability to get you believe in his character.

Anonymous said...

Actually this was much more than a love story. It was the complete life of a man who lived with and around extraordinary people. Think of his "mother" (black), his boss, his father, the English woman and of course his lover. All of them were important to him and in this movie. It was totally intriguing, but yes too long.

Dee said...

I saw many similarities between the movie Forest Gump and this movie.
1. it is a complete life story
2. Benjamin is very close to his Momma
3. He learns and experiences life from many unique and colorful people including a Ship Captain, times of peace, times of war, a wife of a spy and locations all over the world.
4. The aging (youthing) process is amazing.
5. Learning life's lessons: it's never too late to change your life and find your calling; live your life to the fullest; it is ok to grow old; don't be afraid of dying.

. said...

Did I say it was just a love story? Nope, I just figured that women would focus on the love story.

I would compare it to Big Fish or even The Notebook, since most women I know recount the love stories, not the other 6 or so stories that took place.

Dee said...

Well, women are from Venus and you are from Mars.

Anonymous said...

it was a little weird to see an old version of Brad Pitt's face pasted onto a kid's body, but i guess that's why they call it a "curious case"

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