Great? Not really...

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 2009)

It's pretty obvious that an enormous amount of work went into making this film (just considering how looooong it is and how many well made-up life stages its title character covers). However, Art is not judged by quantity, but by quality. To me, this film felt dull and pointless. OK, so Benjamin ages in reverse with all the complications such a phenomenon would generate, and travels a lot. So? What exactly is the film supposed to tell us besides this particular thing? There's a lot of attention to detail, but it feels so minutious that the film appears rigid and uptight, like a soft fabric stitched too tight. It seems to me this film was supposed to bee a bit deeper, maybe a bit whimsical with a touch of wonder, or SOMETHING that would make it more than a pointless story, and would get us ponder for a while afterward. Maybe if Mr. Fincher would have remembered this was not a "who done it" movie and it requires a softer touch and a more relaxed approach, and mostly, more freedom in its creation, the film would've had that airy quality that makes us smile with our hearts and truly remember it for a while.