Overall Brilliant

Rating: 9/10 (20 January 2019)

9 January 2009. Besides a few minor issues, Benjamin is gorgeously photographed and deliciously epic and moving story about life and death over the entire life span. A timely movie, Benjamin presents a behavioral peek at our contemporary aging issues of our society today from the perspective of the life of two senior citizens in flashback. There is an amazing use of light and dark in this movie, much more so than most movies, especially silhouettes. Even at the beginning the replication of the simulated colorized old movie scenes heightened the effect of flashbacks within flashbacks. One noticeable oversight included tea without milk scene and the other noticeable weakness is Benjamin as an old youth, whose behavior didn't seem to exude the usual characteristics of being young in an old body. However, the overall movie flowed with powerful subplots with poignant short stories of Benjamin's life and the people who come in and out his life. This lengthy, extended movie was able to encompass a lifetime with interesting and compelling stories, a Lost in Translation (2003) format expanded into a lifetime of experiences. Never overly dramatic - but resonating with real life experience-like events, Benjamin as a youngster falling looking out the front door to a fart from an old man. Nine out of Ten Stars.