The Emperor is Naked

Rating: 1/10 (16 May 2009)

I don't know how they managed to take such an unusual and interesting topic, with countless opportunities for interesting plot development, conflict and excitement, and turn it into 3 hours of dull, drab, disjointed episodes and characters that add nothing to the story and cause no major difficulties or consequences for them main character. Scene after scene I just kept asking myself, what the hell was the point of that? If there's anything curious about this movie it definitely isn't Benjamin who turns out to be, despite having a disorder that should have the scientific community in a frenzy, a complete and utter bore. He meanders aimlessly through every scene barely expressing an emotion greater than mild excitement while spouting trite, corny phrases like "I was just thinking about how nothing lasts...and what a shame that is..." Is that supposed to be deep? I mean really.
Really, the curious thing about this story is a number of other things besides the main character.
-for instance, how can a movie about a black woman in the 20's/30's raising a white baby outright ignore any consequences that would have come from the racist attitudes of the time...especially in the south! yet the movie doesn't even mention or acknowledge this. preposterous.
-another thing that was very "curious" about this movie was how nobody seemed very surprised at all at his condition. he doesn't even so much as get harassed about it. the guy is the ultimate freak of nature and all anybody can ever comment on is how good he looks as he's getting younger?? give me a break! why isn't he being poked and prodded and taken apart by the scientific community? WHY ISN'T ANYBODY STUDYING THIS OR EVEN BEING INTERESTED IN IT AT ALL. ack.
-curiosity number 3: something about a tugboat.......then something about an affair with a swimmer....wait what does this add to the plot? oh right, NOTHING. again and again the films creators seemed to purposely avoid any potentially juicy plot twist to focus on things that are mundane, boring, and pointless.
and I'm not even going to go into the nonsensical mechanics of his aging disorder, but ultimately I ended up wondering what the point of it all was, as the whole movie didn't seem to have one. the storyline appeared to be devoid of cause an effect which is an essential part of a good story.
for not evoking any emotions other than boredom and mild confusion, for having a weak plot that's full of holes and lacks any real meaning, and for giving us a visual treatment that's either drab or just plain ugly, this movie fails on all levels. I wish I could give it a zero.