Despite its 13 Academy Award nominations in 2009, including Oscars for Make-up, Art Direction and Visual Effects, I put off watching this. Why? The idea of a baby being born old and aging backwards just didn’t appeal to me on any level.

Now that I’ve finally seen it, I understand what others were excited by. Yes, it does have a Forrest Gump quality (including a quirky seatboat captain), and yes, Brad Pitt gives one of his best performances ever. Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, and Taraji P. Henson bring their unique characters to life, too.

But then there’s the Katrina background added for dramatic effect, the meant-to-shock deathbed revelation, the hummingbird’s symbolic reappearance, the way the accident in Paris is described to show the interconnectedness and consequence of events, and the serendipity of seeing the English Channel swim on TV. There’s just too much being forced on the viewer, like the director telling us “see how clever I am.” That aspect, I did not like. If the extraneous “showing off” had been cut out, this movie could have been a tight 120 minutes instead of too long at 165. It would have been better for the extra editing, too, IMHO.