We All Grow Young

I didn't get to see a ton of movies over the holidays (Doubt and Frost/Nixon are high on my soon-to-see list), but I did take $8 and three hours on a Tuesday night to go see The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at my local AMC.

First off, the CGI was nothing short of phenomenal. How they got "old Brad Pitt's face" so convincingly on all of those different bodies was impressive. I felt that the plotline however was kind of flat. My husband compared it to Forrest Gump, and I would agree, but I would say that the characters in Forrest Gump were more dynamic and the story overall more compelling.

Ruminations about age and growth and death as presented in the film were intriguing, but I felt like they really could have been explored and exemplified a lot more. As **spoiler alert** Benjamin reverse-aged back into an infant, there was the tension and inner-conflict of Cate Blanchett's character as I expected, but given the three hours the characters had to work within, I would have expected my own expectations of what reverse-aging would be to be challenged. Maybe I was tired of sitting on the theater seat, or maybe I'd had to much popcorn (is there such a thing?) but I left the movie feeling that my pre-conceived notions were reaffirmed rather than challenged.

I'm not saying it wasn't a good movie--because it was--but I guess I was expecting more than I, well, expected.

Has anyone else seen the movie? Do you agree or did you walk away with a different reaction?