Actually I'm quite fond of the type of movies that follow the entire life span off a person over the decades. It shows how he matures, finds love, his place in life and eventually dies. This movie also does that but instead all backward. The main character in the movie is born old and instead of growing older, he's only getting younger and younger over the years. But as this movie shows; it doesn't matter how you start life, you'll end up making the same wrong and right choices and it doesn't matter if you do it when you're young or old.
Sounds all good so far and by all rights it should had been a type of movie that I would love, especially since it also had director David Fincher at the helm, who is among the best directors working at the moment and is also one of my favorite ones. But no, this movie to me was just lacking a certain spark that would evoke a sort of magical or adventures sense to it.
Thing with the movie is that it doesn't pick a very entertaining approach to things and instead plays things out way more straight-forward and serious. I'm sure I would had liked this movie way better if it had some more light and relieving comedy in it, like for instance a movie like "Forrest Gump" had. Now there is a movie that works out as both dramatic and entertaining at the same time and sort of uses a similar concept as this movie.
But yet I really wouldn't want to compare this movie to "Forrest Gump", unlike everyone else seems to do. If I have to compare it to anything else it would be "The Notebook" really. Both of these movies are love stories that use a gimmick to become an original one in its genre. In this case the gimmick is that the main character instead of growing older is only becoming younger, while everyone around him is aging and dying.
But perhaps because I was able to see through its gimmick, I didn't end up loving this movie as much as most others seem to. In essence- and its core this movie remains the same as most other genre movies and its gimmick just wasn't adding as much to the story as you perhaps would expect.
It doesn't take away that this movie remains a real accomplishment and perfectly watchable one. Even though it really is a big budget movie, it feels like a small, warm and humble one. It doesn't try to brag or impress with anything and also the acting performances within this movie are exactly that way as well and I say that as a compliment.
What this movie of course foremost impresses with are its visuals. Not only does this movie has some great cinematography and art and costume design in it, it also features great looking make-up effects, that mostly came out of the computer. This is one of those movies that has more special effects in it than you at first sight will ever notice. But like I said before, this movie doesn't show off with it and only features it to help to tell the story with. It uses most of its effects to make Brad Pitt look either younger or older than he truly was at the time but I think all of those effects look even better and more convincing on Cate Blanchett her character.
If I still have to say something negative about this movie it is that it's way too long. I mean, the movie is nearly 3 hours, which is way too long and besides provides the movie with too many slow moments in it, which just doesn't make this movie always a good or interesting on to watch. This is perhaps also part of the reason why I just never felt emotionally connected to any of the characters and events and just was never able to fall in love with this movie, as much as I wanted- and expected to.
Definitely a perfectly watchable movie but however not a must-see in my book. It remains too flawed for that, I'm sad to say.
7/10
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