The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I went to see this movie last weekend when I was in Nashville. I don't go to the movies often (I think the only movies I saw in the theater last year were The Dark Knight, James Bond and The Four Christmases). We went to see Gran Torino but it was sold out, so we ended up watching Benjamin Button. First off, it was long. It's almost three hours, and it doesn't feel like a minute under four. It's the story of a man's life, and while they could have done some editing to shorten it up, they were reaching for epic status. It reminded me quite a bit of Forrest Gump, both in length and in style. Except I liked Forrest Gump better.

The proximity of death seems to be the prevailing theme in this movie. From Benjamin's birth, when he is almost thrown into a canal, to Hurricane Katrina, beating on the windows of the hospital room from which the story is told, death is never far from the movie's conscious. Perhaps this is part of why I kept the movie at an emotional distance; it made me uncomfortable and forced me to think about my own mortality, my own aging, and the death that awaits us all, even one who grows younger as he ages.

This movie is a cry to all of us to pay attention to the relationships that surround us. So often they are fleeting, and if we wait to invest ourselves in them they will be gone. Benjamin grows up in a nursing home setting, so he is aware from a young age that friends are not always with us for long. Often they are gone before we know it.

And yet Benjamin Button is, at heart, a selfish movie. Benjamin seeks out exhilaration, at times preying on others to satisfy his emotional (and physical) needs. He seems to care little about how his actions affect others. While one can read a selfless personality into him, ultimately I think that is creating something that is not there. He gives to many, and yet the desire to take is always there.

It is a fascinating study in our human natures, how we view aging and youth and the importance of recognizing pivotal moments in our lives. It's worth seeing, but I wouldn't start it after 8:00 PM!