You can’t really say it’s not an original concept. And it’s always nice to look at Brad Pitt (when he’s not covered in make-up of course). But the story, in my opinion, is just a little bit too slow. I liked the first half or so, seeing the conflicts between the young mind and the old body. But after about half an hour of that, you kind of get the drill…

TCoBB made me cry. A lot.

In a recent screenplay class, our professor mentioned that what sells in Hollywood is a concept rather than a story. You have a concept first, the story is secondary.

His example was Jaws: a movie about a shark that eats people. There’s more to it than that—a really interesting balance of power between three characters, for one thing—but people went to the theater to see the shark.

I suspect that what got people to the box office in this case was the concept of Benjamin Button. A man ages backwards. Brad Pitt, through groundbreaking special effects, plays an elderly child. A love that cannot be, but should be, and is, eventually.

However, unlike Jaws, I don’t think the story delivered anything beyond what it promised.

There’s something very magical about 1920’s New Orleans that makes a curious case like Benjamin’s seem somehow possible. But when it cuts to the present, it’s jarring. It’s a subplot, and if a subplot is interfering, perhaps it’s best to leave on the cutting room floor. You could leave a short series of lightning strike montages there, too, as far as I’m concerned. While they’re the few moments in the film that reflect the tone of Fitzgerald’s short story, they stick out like a sore thumb in a movie that is trying to be epic and moody.

Other than those nitpicky things, I’m glad I saw it. It’s a novelty, an experience you won’t have with any other movie. Pitt and Blanchett are flawless, and Taraji Henson, who plays Pitt’s mother, is surely going to do great things in the future. The movie is shot beautifully, the costumes and scenery are gorgeous. There’s nothing wrong with it really, except that it never goes beyond its gimmick.

I have always loved “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald; both the book and the movie. When I heard about this movie in the summer, and I found out it was based off F. Scott Fiztgerald’s book about a man who is getting younger instead older, I jumped at the chance to see it. It was a plus that Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, and Julia Ormond were in it. Today I headed to the theater with Heather to see if this movie was able to do Fitzgerald justice. It did.

After the 30 minutes of commercials and previews, the movie finally started. It was very creative of Paramount to have the Paramount icon created full of buttons. I already knew that I was going to love the movie, even though that really had nothing to do with it.

The acting was superb. From the beginning of the movie, I had tears in my eyes and laughter coming out of my mouth. Pitt did an amazing job as the curious Benjamin Button. At every moment of his age, I believed him. He played the old man with a child’s innocence with such precision that I had to remind myself that it wasn’t based off a true story.

A big and happy surprise was the acting of Taraji Henson, who played Button’s adoptive mother. I know that after this movie, she is going to have movie offers left and right. Pitt and Henson had such a wonderful chemistry that I felt the mother/child love from each of them. Of course, Blanchett and Swinton were just as amazing.

The symbolism in the movie was well thought out. I haven’t read the book, so I’m not sure if it was in there already. The hummingbird flying around in unexpected times signified the freedom and bewilderment that surrounded Button and Daisy. The people Benjamin met all molded him into the person he was. It was great how he recognized that.

It was great how past events were shown using an old-fashioned camera. It kind of took the same method in “Forrest Gump.” I thought that it gave visual breaks in the long movie. What made it more interesting is how they used different formats of old cameras to represent the past.

The movie made me cry. It reminded me of my true love and I, and how he was the only person who ever loved me on first sight. Button’s and Daisy’s love was beautiful and wonderful, and I wish that I could have this with him. It wasn’t all about true love. It had a wonderful message about living your life and never thinking you are too old to do something. However, the love story helped.

Definitely a movie that I am going to get on DVD when it comes out.