String of Events

Rating: 3/10 (10 January 2010)

I look for character, plot, and some insight into the human condition. None of these elements were present in this movie. It was essentially, a string of distantly-related events in a life lived backwards. OK - I get it. An episodic movie: "Forest Gump" with a plot twist. It may have been a nice short story, but there just isn't enough content to fill up an almost 3-hour movie. We never delve beneath the surface of any character. People dance, make buttons, or play the piano because that's what they do. Now, there are many highly charged moments, and they are portrayed with stunning visual poetry. The tugboat, for instance, almost becomes a separate character because of all the angles and focal lengths at which it's photographed. Outside of the plot device of a life lived backwards, it's a rather plain tale.