Overrated simplistic film

Rating: 6/10 (19 April 2011)

While watching this movie, similar films which stories are based on flashbacks/retelling the past came to mind: Forrest Gump, The Bicentennial Man, The Bridges of Madison County... Well, I actually enjoyed this Clint Eastwood movie back in the day, although my personal circumstances were different. Anyway, what those 2 first films and B. Button have in common, apart from the way the story is told, is how they try to take superficial human emotions and overuse them in order to produce a movie that moves the viewer. And, as it happened with Gump and The 200th Man, it ends up being just somehow hollow. Sure, if you enjoy simple emotions and the views of morality and what's supposed to be important that most of the world shares, you will enjoy its 2 hours and 46 minutes. Although, apart from the fact that this is the story of a human being whose body grows younger rather than old, all else have been told in other films. In the same ways. A love story trying to grab more, trying to go into "deeper" emotions that all human beings can feel connected to by exemplifying the occurrences in the life of one man. In this film you will find all your typical issues, including the subtle hint of americanism, all masterfully (?) crafted to make the common folk wet his/her eyes. I gave it a 6 instead of a 5 for the artistic value. Any person without an abstract mind who likes what's supposed to be "touching" and "emotional" will enjoy -don't know if that's the appropriate word for making you cry- this. If you seek a true deeper knowledge of the whole spectrum of human emotions, don't expect it here. Also, in a more personal note, I found the Louisiana accent a bit too much sometimes, but that's just me.