Forrest Gump+Highlander+Like Water for Chocolate

Rating: 10/10 (26 December 2008)

It's easy to compare the plot to other films. The amazing thing about the main character here, is not what he does, which is nothing special, or what happens to him, most able-bodied men got caught up in the war, it's how he lives his life.
Benjamin Button is born handicapped (think Forrest Gump's "magic legs") He stands for the first time when confronted by a faith healer, who then dies of a heart attack (an episode of "House"). He misses his chance to be with the woman he loves at least 3 times (Like Water for Chocolate). He gets to spend the middle of his life with the woman of his dreams (the beginning of many films where one or the other has something awful happen to them), then fades into obscurity as he grows younger (this is new, but we don't get to watch).
We need to believe that Benjamin's life is tied to a clock made by a blind clockmaker that runs backward, even though they never met, the clock was started before Benjamin was born, and it continues to work even when unplugged and put in storage after he dies (we see a huge, intricate power source earlier in the movie). This clock that runs backward is left in a train station from 1918 until 2002 even though it is only right 4 times a day, and probably causes countless numbers of people to miss their trains. Benjamin is confined to a wheelchair, nearly blind, nearly deaf, and has hair like the Crypt Keeper at 84. I know many people over 80 who are in much better condition, but it was, after all, 1918.
It sounds like I'm panning the movie with all these criticisms, but I actually loved it. It made me glad to be aging with my friends and relatives, instead of growing younger and watching them die. It also makes me feel that middle age isn't so bad.