Leaves you with more of an aching bottom than an aching heart

Rating: 6/10 (2 September 2011)

A tale is spun of a blind clock maker who makes a large public clock which runs backwards. A symbol of forlorn hope that his son can return home from a war in which he died. Later a baby is born, but with the features of an old man. For Benjamin Button - played by Brad Pitt - time will really run backwards.
I haven't read the F Scott Fitzgerald short story, but I might. Could well be better than this film and secondly it might fill me in on the clues, meaning and motivations that passed me by (or the makers could not convey clearly).
First a word on the acting: Pitt received an Oscar nod (not win) for this, but does he deserve it when most of the acting is imposed by CGI or make-up? Indeed the central problem in casting is that Pitt (today) is not really all that young. So a lot the supposed "young man" scenes had to be filmed in medium shot.
(If you think he is not a gym-toned forty something - at his youngest point - you shouldn't be giving descriptions to the police!)
While there is plenty going on there is also a lot of meaningless padding. He meets a former long distance swimmer at a hotel in Russia, but I have no idea why this means anything. And given the screen time it must - at least to the various authors.
The "old" BB acts young (because he is in his own mind!) and confuses himself and others, but there is no answer and no solution. His life is bizarre and he has no role model or no way of making sense of it. So - in time - he quietly accepts.
Naturally long-term sexual happiness cannot be achieved as you get younger to a partner who is getting older. Indeed at some point you might risk being arrested and put in jail!
Yes, there are loads of unique dilemmas and crossroads, but Button just runs out of the kitchen every time it gets hot. There is no dealing with it. Equally meeting people that he left when he appeared older (now as a younger appearing self) is dealt with in a matter-of-fact way. Why would they believe it was the same person? Anyone sane would be totally disbelieving!
The movie having one big central novelty seems to be a license to follow the road of cliché in most other areas. The romance here ticks every box which was laughed at in the Naked Gun series. The romance montage where they laugh and clown, practical joke and roll like thunder (in the hay) is so old hat that you think they are taking the Mick!
Thankfully the act direction is simply first class. Yes lots of stuff made on a computer - including a ballet rehearsal where Tilda Swinton's face has been morphed on to another dancer! Every shot is well framed and thought out. Creates a true sense of being in the past.
(And while I am on the subject, Tilden is shown dancing vigorously and later seen stretching. You stretch before you dance - not after!)
There is solid acting from the full cast - with special mention to the classy Tilden as the love interest - but I don't understand her particularly well either. While Pitt has a pretty face and six-pack you need more than that to entertain an intelligent career woman for long. BB is weak and totally empty. A drift through life chancer who, as I said before, always runs when things get tough.
Three hours is too long to spend with him. He is not worth this extended length of celluloid. Glad I saw it though. If only for the art direction and cinematography.