I have little desire to see this. I occasionally review movies for a smallish local paper, and when talking to much bigger local critics before a screening of "Doubt," they both seemed to agree that if you liked "Forrest Gump," you'd like BB. I hated "Forrest Gump."

Also? I have no desire to pigeonhole a director, and I'm glad to see him sticking his neck out and not going dark yet again, but I was both surprised and horrified to learn that David Fincher was behind this.

Though I must add that point three of your post kind of makes me want to see it, now.

I would have liked to see a true adaptation of the story, where Benjamin is born an 80 year old, fully grown man who is more interested in doing 80 year old man things than playing with toys.

The first part of the movie had my interest, but by the time he looked like he was in his 40s and it got all gaggy romantic I got bored.

Middleclass - it's not as Gumpy as you might believe. Be warned, though - the 2nd act is mostly about Brad Pitt getting nasty on boats and mattresses. It's like watching HGTV and Brad Pitt porn for about 25 minutes in the middle of this movie.

Fun for some - Plot Arc Death for me.

Cmonkey - no shit! The first third of the movie was awesome. Funny and with some depth to it. Then someone flipped a switch - like the entire front half of the movie was an excuse to see Brad Pitt with no shirt on.

I hated Forest Gump and I liked this movie a lot. The first third of the film was definitely the best, but it was good throughout. Magic realism set in the 20th century US is OK by me.

Jeez! That last comment was me. Something really odd is going on with my desktop - LT and I both have a profile, but lately when we switch we don't keep our logins like we used to. Dammit, it's confusing.

No chemistry between Pitt and Blanchett but Fincher makes a bit of visual beauty and Pitt acts his heart out but it's all such a one note gimmick. A mess and a bummer and not as good as Forrest Gump and that was not very good at all. Still, it will get some Oscar notice.

Oh, God, I thought it was a thousand times better than Forrest Gump. That pathetic attempt at the Foghorn Leghorn accent by Tom Hanks...ugh. I did like the visual appeal of this film, and I think the premise had something to say, particularly in these times when a lot of us end up caring for older relatives and loved ones as if they are children. With Forrest Gump, I wasn't sure what the hell the message was -- naifs win in the end? If you are innocent enough you get to meet major historical figures?

Amis's Time's Arrow set out to make sensible and sane that which was insensible and insane. Hatred and violence are made to bring about love and goodness. The Holocaust was a reversal of what is real in life.

In Harold Pinter's Betrayal, the reverse story telling showed how our love for someone can lead us to hurting them more than any other.

This reverse aging just had no point for me. Just a sad gimmick.

"particularly in these times when a lot of us end up caring for older relatives and loved ones as if they are children. " Interesting idea. I did not see that at all. I mean the dude was born old and those around him grow old. Where is the connection? The fact that those we loved may get older and more child like is sad because they have lost all that they had hard won through living. He is just losing something along the way like the rest of us. I really don't see that the story has anything new to say or a new way to say something or any real entertainment value.

I would give Gump a 4 out of 10 and this a 3.

It's weird, scodyboy and I are totally split on this one. He's interested, and I'm having a totally visceral NO NO NOT IN A MILLION YEARS NO reaction.

Oh this movie was so bad!
The CGI, while impressive, grossed me out (well, maybe except for when they made Brad Pitt look mid-twenties), the story was boring and uncreative despite its promising premise, and the trite tropes almost made me puke. The hummingbird? Please.

And how many dramatic storms paralleling emotional upheaval can there be in one movie? I think I lost count at 12.

One funny thing:
I was about 40 min into the movie when my phone vibrated and I looked down and saw a text from my sister saying "DONT SEE BUTTON- totally not worth it" and I wrote back "too late, already in it." About 10 min later, got a similar message from my mother. I guess we all decided to see the same crappy movie at the same time on Christmas!

Haven't seen it yet; I can't use the discount coupon until next week.

I LOATHED Forrest Gump. Giving Jenny an AIDS-like disease was a cop-out. Quiz Show should have won that year.

I read the Fitzgerald story a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it.

brujita, other than a guy reverse aging this movie has nothing at all to do with the FSF story. All of the reverse aging with none of the social commentary.

Brad Pitts best acting was when he played Floyd, the stoner on the couch, in True Romance.

All I know for sure about this (I'm not even sure I know who Brad Pitt is to the point of being able to recognize him if I saw a picture) is that every time I see it in print I think it says "Benjamin Britten".

I have no desire to see this. I also will wax negative about "Forrest Gump" at the drop of a hat. . .yet. . .while on a mini-vacation in October we watched it one lazy afternoon in the hotel, and since I knew it's flaws, I was able to snoozily watch it, pass the hours, and even tear up a little. But the bestest thing about Forrest Gump is that I work with a woman named Jenny and we totally call her Jennaay. She's completely cool and in on the joke, btw - it's not a put-down, but a term of endearment.

Once Tilda Swinton dumped me, I went to sea and got shot at.

That's all ah have to say about that.

Yeah, upon waking, I think this movie just couldn't get out of its own way. There's a good third that should have been left on the cutting room floor, and certain scenes scream OSCAR BAIT! at the top of their lungs.

But inside it, there was a charming, quirky film.
Plus, it ranks right up there with L.A. Confidential and Prairie Home Companion for being one of the most gorgeous movies to just look at. The cinematography will definitely win an Oscar if nothing else.

We saw it last weekend in a fit of Need To Get Out There's Nothing Good Playing Just Pick One Whatever. Maybe that kind of expectation is why it surprised me how much I enjoyed it.

I might catch this on Netflix or something, but I remember reading some article that showed CCBB being a reprise of all the other Brad Pitt movies. Can't find it now. The same site also had an article pointing out that Jim Carrey has been putting out essentially the same movie for about 15 years.

Also, Forest Gump was ok, but that accent. ouch.

that's all I have to say about that.

I liked it. It was lovely film, a sort of bittersweet love letter to New Orleans, quietly read. I had resisted seeing it because it was 3 hours long and my general attitude is if you can't say it in 2 hours, you're wasting my time. Bu BB really hit home, maybe 'cause I'm from New Orleans and most of my family is from there and the film itself deals with living and dying, things that have been on my mind a lot lately (just started reading Stiff, highly recommeded).

There's different types of films, all trying to do different types of things, and I think BB was a "reminder" film, the sort that says "hey, relationships, in all their variety, are important. Here ,let me show why," and by that measure, BB does a very good job.

The comparisons to Gump seem more about hating Gump than really enjoying the movie.

"With Forrest Gump, I wasn't sure what the hell the message was"

I took it as, "if you have a decent family and they teach you a few simple rules, even a retard could live a satisfying life, even in turbulent times."

a sort of bittersweet love letter to New Orleans,

Yes. My local arts newspaper movie critic spent a lot of time in the review questioning the realism of whether someone with Button's condition would really be living unremarkedly alongside the people in the old-age home, no one getting up in arms about his odd medical situation. My response to that was "You've never been in New Orleans." Honestly, in the South in general and New Orleans in particular, no one would really bat an eye at this. People have a way of surveying many very odd and difficult things within their families and communities and just giving a philosophical shrug about it. Nothin' to get het up about, he's just a funny sort of "child of God," as Queenie says. I've seen the attitude in my own family and don't hesitate to agree that if I had some relative or other who were aging backward, it would be taken in stride. "Oh, that's just Louis. don't mind him."