Knowing the premise going in (Benjamin ages backwards), I was very curious to see the mechanics of how a person could do this. I was actually pretty impressed with the treatment of being born old and growing younger... until the teenage years, that is. At the end of Benjamin's life, he reverts to an infant, which requires me to suspend too much rationality. While the line of how much disbelief can be suspended varies from film to film, in this case I was able to believe a wrinkly infant born with arthritis and cataracts, but not the shrinking of a full grown human back into an infant. Other than this novelty (upon which the entire film is based), everything else drags. This should be expected for something that clocks in at 2 hours 40 minutes. The point of the movie is made early: Don't take anything in life for granted because everything changes quickly. And then we have that hammered in to us for the remaining hours. The story is not engaging enough, the characters not deep enough, the story arc not mysterious enough to keep the viewer engaged. Perhaps this would be a good rental if (and that is an important if) you are in love with Brad Pitt or like to see movies featuring the makeup artists. Otherwise, there is much better fare available this season.
2-stars
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