Clichéd and as a movie, untimately unfulfilling

Rating: 4/10 (12 January 2009)

I can't see why others rate this film so highly. Maybe because people are so used to seeing visual trash from Hollywood these days, when they get visual trash with some good acting, they call it a masterpiece.
Benjamin Button is a very well paced, visually affecting movie. But it is one that leaves you feeling hollow. The feel for the characters due to the skill of the actors, but you are given no understanding for their motivations. Why did the female lead desire so much to be a dancer? Where was Benjamins conflict about leaving his family? Layer that with the oh so obvious feeling that this was done before (and better) with Forrest Gump and you feel like this is a rehash of the same idea. Now throw in cliché after cliché (crazy sea captain, dancer struck down ridiculously in her prime, lovers buying a love nest and painting the walls...) and you end up feeling like you have gone on a ride, but it didn't make you feel any differently than when you got on. You can't identify or understand what has happened, so why is it important? Are we all so gullible these days that any movie with some enhanced visuals and good acting gets called a masterpiece?