Benjamin Button is not a great movie

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I should know better by now, but I did read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story that this movie was “based” on before I saw the movie. BIG mistake because there are really only two things that make the movie like the story: 1. The main character’s name is Benjamin Button, and 2. Benjamin was born with an old man’s body, which grew backward in time until he died as a baby. And even that second point didn’t really match up because in the story Benjamin’s mental development also went backwards, whereas in the movie you seen a 70-year-old looking man playing with toy soldiers and a 12-year-old with dementia.

Eric Roth adapted this screenplay, and it’s also curious that this movie is a lot like “Forrest Gump,” which he also adapted. I’m not the biggest “Forrest Gump” fan, but that movie had a lot more sparkle and energy than this one did, partly because Forrest had a part in historical events, whereas Benjamin just kind of goes through life.

It’s told through flashback—surprisingly, every Best Picture nominee this year features a flashback storytelling device—and the present-day setting is New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the city. This seemed to try to tug at my heartstrings, and it didn’t work for me. I wonder if some people who watch this in fifty years will even notice it’s Hurricane Katrina and what that actually means.

To me this movie was long and bloated—it wasn’t long to the point that my butt hurt, but I did get a little bored, and I was glad when it was over (I wanted a “I survived Benjamin Button” button). The ending went somewhat quickly, but there was a bit where the young-looking Benjamin travels to India and Southeast Asia. I can’t imagine what the couple minutes of film—if that—cost to produce. His wanderings there didn’t add to the story much, or if they did, I was so glad Benjamin was getting younger because it meant the end of the movie was coming.

Now I didn’t totally hate this movie. I thought Taraji P. Henson did a great job as Benjamin’s adopted mother, and her Best Supporting nomination is well deserved. And of course, the makeup and effects are wonderful.

Still, though, I don’t think this was really one of the five best movies of the year, and I imagine that beyond some technical awards, it will have to be happy with the honor of just being nominated.