A pretty interesting exercise of style

Rating: 5/10 (12 February 2009)

Definitely, a beautiful movie! Superbly shot, with obvious plastic virtues, and a keen eye for epoch reconstruction and historical precision. A real feast for the sore eyes.
The script itself, however, is quite linear, devoid of logic and imagination. One should remember that the genre of fantastic realism supposes certain rules that must be followed. Once we propose a fantastic premise - here, the "curious case of" a child born old and gradually regressing to youth and infancy - we must construct its relationship with the real world, rational and natural as we know it, in a coherent and credible form. This is how we achieve that "state of real" which makes the basis of any successful fantastic story.
In this case, the state of real is sorely amiss. Although aware of the protagonist's oddity, the people around react in an apathetic and conventional way. As such, paradoxically, the convention doesn't function (or, in other words, "conventionalism kills the convention"). As a result, the much needed conflict is weak and fragmentary. The writers show a surprising lack of creative imagination, just going with the flow. And the flow is slow. And low.
One should also point out that the script departs its own referential frame. So, our character "turns young", with all the consequences as such derived. But, dearies, sclerosis, Alzheimer and any other forms of senile dementia are 100% results or the brain's physical degrading (the neurotransmitters' failings, the proteins' faulty processing, and so on!) As such, WHY does the "old child" B.B. turns senile, when his brain is literally young and vital? BY CONTRARY, in that instance, we really had a high potential for drama: an individual having all the knowledge and living experience of eight decades of life, amplified by the super-intelligent and vivid mind of a child! A "wonder-kid", a "genius", not due to any super-powers, but strictly as a result of his own peculiarity: age regression! THIS was the true ending of the story - and how dramatic and compelling it would have been! A real ending to remember! As such (and following also the total lack of depth and fantasy of the story, plus the stereotype profile of B.B. - who has no personality at all), everything remains shallow, useless, slow-paced, boring and insignificant. Thank God, the plastic departments are sublimely represented! At least for cinematography, sets, costumes and, of course, first of all make-up, this movie would deserve some Oscars (but only in those fields!)