I was curious alright and glad it got the better of me..

Rating: 9/10 (13 May 2011)

This is a film I've been highly curious to see for a while and finally got round to it. I heard it was long and it is long for around 2 hours and 40 minutes but it is a rich story, sympathetic characters and makes you wonder at the preciousness of time and life that we have.
Brad Pitt - now I never really saw him as much of an actor but boy has he done a great job here. You forget that he is the tabloid pretty boy everyone keeps talking about. In this, he feels more like a character than ever. Cate Blanchett is superb and the chemistry between the two leads is terrific. It is also interesting to see how they both grow older but in different ways - he becomes physically younger and she gets older.
What I think the film is trying to get at is how we all emphasise on the fear of becoming older. But if you did it in reserve - where you start off as an old person and become younger - do you really become younger? You still live out life and go through the journeys that normal people go through. You love, you feel pain, you cry etc. This is made more ironic by the fact that when you are born, you start off being helpless and when you are old, you become fragile just as if you were born as well but with more wisdom.
While I think the ending could have touched more on its message, it leaves you to interpret what they are saying here. It's what you take away from the film and the experience of Benjamin with you. And while it could have been a bit more specific with its message, I think if you are highly moved by this film, you will pick up your own moral from this film.
Essentially it's almost like a Forest Gump type of film where it's about a man who goes through life's experiences. There isn't really a solid based story here - you could simply dismiss it as a bunch of things that happen to this person, but what makes it meaningful is how the character develops with the realisation that time is short for him just as everyone else, and that is something all of us can relate to.
I spent two and a half hours watching this and I certainly don't regret it. This is a film that will either move you or for some, bore you but I wasn't bored. I have more respect for Brad Pitt after seeing this.