Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons

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The Curious Case of Ben

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  The premise of this movie is taken from the idea that man grows from a
  baby to a man, then in his dotage becomes a baby once more.  I suppose
  some writer somewhere laughingly wondered, what if a man really did
  become a baby?  What would that be like?  Then from that the inevitable
  and almost cliche idea of a man being born old and becoming young, till
  he becomes a baby again, and dies as a newborn.   Fortunately the writer
  who decided this was worth pursuing happened to be a very good writer
  indeed and the result was deeper than the Marianas Trench.
  A few points are brought up repeatedly and make a lovely theme.  "You
  never know what's gonna come at you."  and "everyone's life is
  different, really."  It really does slap expectation in the face, time
  and again.  Just when you think it would be neat to get younger instead
  of older, you get to see how much of a handicap it can be.  Yet our
  erstwhile hero does not become disabled by it, he just rolls with the
  realities it brings and explores the results.   Certainly a lesson we
  can all learn.  Because he doesn't waste time trying to shape how things
  should be and instead explores how they are, he encounters richness of
  life that makes for a fascinating film.  It lasts 3 hours and you are
  grateful to be able to stay there, in that curious world, that long.
  He is born in 1918 as a wizened old man the size of a baby.  As an
  elderly child growing up he's isolated from childish pursuits.  Too
  fragile and crippled to play and so old looking that people treat him
  like an elder instead of the child he is. 
  As the movie pursues the fleeting 20th century it's a wonderful look at
  all the eras that went from the roaring 20s right through to the dawn of
  the 21st century.  I myself relived my own years watching them march by
  on the screen.
  Does Benjamin get to love?  Well yes, the trailer itself reveals that he
  has a life long love.  He has other loves too, so that side of life is
  well attended.  He adventures, he loves, he keeps faith with love too,
  even while he explores the varied ways of love. 
  Somewhere deep within my heart some wisdom has been laid.  It will
  settle gradually there and become part of my inner landscape;
 seeming to
  be knowlege I always had, even though it was left there by this script. 
  Well worth the price of admission.