The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is getting heaps of praise but I have to admit, the movie really fell flat for me. The biggest issue with Benjamin Button is that I had no idea who Benjamin Button was. Yes, he was a guy who aged backwards but other than that, who was he? He kind of seemed like a bum, shifting around from one dead end job to another, in spite of his gift/curse. Why am interested in a movie about a guy who can age backwards if his aging backwards doesn't really ever seem to matter all that much?

He worked on a tugboat as a young but old-looking man. And? I'm sure he wasn't the only teenager to take to the seas in that era. He had an affair with an older woman who taught him things about the world. Great but the fact that he wasn't really as old as he seemed didn't really matter. In fact, he just looked like a sheltered or naive old man. Besides the ending of the flimsy love story (which hinged almost completely on the belief that Cate and Brad were meant to be in spite of, well, everything), the film would have been virtually the same if Button was a regular kid growing up.

Don't get me wrong, Benjamin Button was beautifully shot and a well-made film but it was hardly an intriguing story, the characters relationships were paper thin, and I really can't believe that it's one of the best movies of the year. I honestly could buy Synechdoche, NY as a Best Picture nominee before Ben Button. At least in that case I could think "Well, maybe I didn't really get it." but I understood Benjamin Button. The only thing that didn't register is why people think it's some sort of classic.

If there's one thing that should stand out from this rather forgettable movie, it's that Taraji P. Henson needs to be considered one of the top young actresses in the biz.  Other than that, I really don't see this movie laying claim to anything more than a footnote in the careers of Fincher and Pitt. In fact, I think both of their movies last year (Zodiac and The Assassination of Jesse James) were better films than Button.

In the end, I think the theme of the movie overtook the story, plot, characters, and premise. And the theme just wasn't all that intriguing. It's not a bad film but I wouldn't recommend it.