Love Hollywood style or A Tribute to New Orleans

Rating: 4/10 (1 January 2009)

Taking the Fitzgerald story as a premise, the movie attempts to weave a love story around it. Since Hollywood is bereft of experiential knowledge of what true love actually looks like, they predictably insert a series of affairs (fornication) in its place. Set mostly in New Orleans, the viewer is expected to view fornication and infidelity (adultery) as normal, natural expressions of love. The predictable result: no commitment, empty sentimentality, no heart, no soul--a perfect reflection of Hollywood itself--flat as celluloid.
Exceptions: Queenie, Benjamin's adoptive mother; a mother's love; she takes him in despite his looks and always remains a mother to him. Captain Mike--a kind of Lieutenant Dan Taylor reincarnation (Forrest Gump)--displays sacrificial love.
Other observations: A visual work of art, even a masterpiece (train station, boarding house, brothel, Russian hotel, tugboat, New York Ballet, summer house). New Orleans life and culture are interesting. In fact, all that is fascinating about this movie is completely incidental to its very poor, long, boring, and boorish script.
The movie attempts to retain some light humor, but misses the element of farce. Besides its title and the character's name, and the premise, a man ages backwards, the film bears no resemblance to Fitzgerald's short story whatsoever, which, ironically, can be read in about twenty minutes (It's hilarious!). Even the setting, New Orleans, is different, and the movie is clearly, in part, meant to be a kind of tribute to that city, as is born out at the end.