This film was nominated for many Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, yet failed to win any major categories. This is a shame, because it is beautiful, well told and superbly acted.
Brad Pitt shows that he can really act here. He plays Benjamin, who was born with a biological age of an 80-year-old, with arthritis and wrinkles. We follow Benjamin's life through the years, and amazingly, he becomes younger with age. He ages backwards. When he looks on screen as the Brad us females know and love, he is in fact about sixty.
We see him progress from a wheelchair bound cripple to a fully functional man, and the obstacles he has to overcome, such as his feelings for Lily (Cate Blanchett).
The film begins in New Orleans just after WWI and spans his entire life, which means the film is quite long. A little too long for my liking and in parts, it is a bit too slow moving. Some may find this boring, but I found myself more interested and really rooting for Benjamin.
The story is told by Blanchett's daughter, whose narrations switches to Pitt's when the film shifts back in the past. The special effects to create the old Benjamin and the make-up for the teenage Benjamin are remarkable and very convincing.
Pitt deserved all the nominations for this but I didn't feel that Cate's heart was in it enough. The emotional end to the film did not hit me like emotional endings usually do.
This is a film for anyone who can appreciate it as a long, slow-moving look at someone's astonishing life. Rating: 4/5
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