***I am adding some new thoughts. I woke up this morning thinking about this movie. The last week or so has been a rush and I really didn't get to really think about this movie until this morning. This story was totally new to me, I never read the book and one thing I think that may be unique about the movie over the book, is the power of the visual element. Immediately the viewer is presented with a wrinkled person with thinning hair, arthritis, and crackled voice -- it is the first thing you see and therefore "know" about him and just like any other stereotype there are certain assumptions to be made about people of advanced years. Even though he was young, people assumed he'd "been around the block" or needed to have an experience because they assumed he was too old not to have had it. On the opposite side, because he appeared young it was assumed he wasn't as wise about life, and seemed he shouldn't have been dying as he grew younger. Because he was old first, people around him were forced to see his character first and he grew physically beautiful/young with age, and we know what a jackpot that would be to see Brad Pitt emerge from your old wrinkled spouse! WOOT! WOOT! I have seen so much written that says his life was running in reverse but the only thing that was reversed was his appearance and they way people (aside from his mother) treated him based on that appearance. It is a human movie about love, life and death presented in an exquisite, quirky and eloquent way. It seemed more like an art house film albeit executed in a huge budget Hollywood way. I loved the movie and love it the more I think about and recall it.
The preview piqued it, now I am curious no longer. I have seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was a beautiful thought provoking film. Now yes, Brad Pitt was in it but for most of it he wasn't his physically beautiful self, he was the inwardly beautiful character possessed of a whimsical charm and wisdom. We loved the movie. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. I am usually a purveyor of small art house films but this was a delightful and poignant film. We laughed out loud and cried sniffly tears. It was an inspirational movie offering perspective and a quiet calm.
I don't know how I missed this book but thanks to F. Scott Fitzgerald for creating such a sage tale. I'm adding it to my reading list.
It opens Christmas Day. My family always goes to the movies on
Christmas Day, this would be a great flick if it is a tradition for you
too.
Well speaking of great movies we also saw Happy Go Lucky. A quirky British film that has us thinking about it even a week later. Not as artistically inspiring as Benjamin Button, however the title character's fashion sense was a hoot. With an inspirational and often hilarious outlook on life the main character was surrounded by damaged people who allowed that damage to affect there lives in detrimental ways. It is about her interaction with those people.
Both movies are a must-see, in my most humble opinion.
