Very engaging movie

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2009)

When I heard about the movie, I was not interested in watching it at the first place, the plot of it seemed awkward and the trailer looked boring. Friday night is not the time for such slow paced drama. But I couldn't get hold of anything better and started watching this movie as the last resort.
After first few minutes of the movie a thing struck me about it. The very idea of the movie is enough to engage the audience to linger on(I was wrong about the 'awkward' story), I became so curious that, I didn't care about the plot any longer. Just see how the director possibly can make it believable for viewers to see a man growing younger against time...
I would say it is a very well made movie, it was so natural to see an old person grow, slowly into a young man. I stated liking this old guy, he was simple, friendly and lovable.
The initial relationship between two kids, looks strange, the guy is an old man and the girl is a 7 year old kid. But if you can remind yourself of Button's real age and try to imagine how he feels, it won't look bizarre to you. Thats the secret, if you can look beyond what is seen, try to think the way Benjamin would think, nothing actually looks stupid to you.
As long as this guy kept on becoming better and better, I happily believed in the story, but the later part when this guy starts shrinking into a boy was really too much for me. That was the sad part and somewhat difficult to believe (physically, it more natural to grow tall than to shrink!). You would already have seen him as an old kid and now to see the old him become a kid, have amnesia is too depressing.
The way this story is told to his daughter, though not new (death bed story full of secrets) is also quite alright. The performances are very good, Cate Blanchett as usual shines. Overall, I would say, give it a try, it a good movie, despite giving you pain in the end, worth watching for curiosity! ciao, Pallavi