Sigh, I wanted to love it so much....

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The title says it all. It's long, complex, beautiful, and completely empty. If I could have watched this movie without any vocal tracks I would have loved it, maybe. It is a technical feat in and of itself. Every shot is beautiful to look at. The special effects are masterful in their execution. The problem is..does any of that matter if the film has no soul? It just feels soulless. I know that it is well made, I do, but what is film if not an expression of human and earthly experience? I see the experience, I just don't feel it. Brad Pitt, who I have liked in many films, fall completely flat. His character watches life and death all around him for years. That is is role in the film. The problem is, we are watching him watch them. He is a statue, an obelisk, mounted in front death. Unmoved. As was I, Brad Pitt obelisk, as was I. Tilda Swinton, that freakishly perfect human, shows up for fifteen minutes and steals the show from everyone else involved. Her story has so much heart and soul that mine almost broke. It was beautiful and poignant and it meant more to me than the other 2 plus hours. Cate Blanchett, who is so often great, is great once more. The problem is, she's in love with a statue. When you are in love with a statue and the film is not about you being in love with a statue, things fall flat. All of your heart, it is useless. This is very much like Forrest Gump without the heart and with a different gimmick. Curious again, is that the same writer wrote both films. Curious indeed. I'll give it one thing though. The aging effects are incredibly believable. If it won best special effects over Iron Man, I could live with that. So there you have it. It's not very good, but it is something to look at. If you don't like the movie starting off, just get past the Tilda Swinton scene and then leave. My one suggestion about the creation of this movie? Tim Burton. It would have had a weird heart, but that's infinitely better than none at all.