Defying the Aging Process? - Only If Your Name Is Ben Button - A Review

Since I have been watching a lot of science fiction/fantasy lately,  I decided to sit down and watch this 2 hour 40 minute tale of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  It won several Academy Awards so I thought I would see what it was all about.  This is the story of a boy born as an 80 year old who gets younger by the year.  Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button who is a man who starts old and gets younger and younger.  Brad was a good choice because his face is pretty young-looking so he played the part well as he is supposed to get younger instead of older throughout the movie.  Cate Blanchett also did a wonderful job playing his friend and lover as the years go on.  It was strange, but I found this movie in many ways similar to Forrest Gump.  The tale of a man who travels through many seasons of life to meet all sorts of characters.  At the end the drama wraps up the different lives of the characters that Benjamin Button had interacted with.   It seemed a lot like Forrest Gump in that way.   Unfortunately, despite winning 3 academy awards I failed to connect with a man who just can't stop getting younger.  Even the love story seemed shallow to me as Benjamin Button doesn't seem to know the meaning of the word "marriage".  Here is why Benjamin Button didn't get a high rating from my perspective:

1.  No moral compass for Benjamin Button.

 Call me a conservative if you will,  but Benjamin Button has no sense of right and wrong when it comes to women.  He has no trouble fornicating with harlots and sleeping with married women, or simply sleeping with women without even bringing up the subject of marriage.  I know this is a fictional tale, but despite some church attendance in the early parts of the movie, Benjamin Button seems content to not even think much about God at all throughout the journey of this movie. Not a great quality of the main character.

2. A movie so long that you almost feel your facial hair starting to grow (if you're a guy). 

 It was a definitely new twist to have a man born as an 80 year old and then get younger by the year. The problem was it takes so long to tell this tale that you feel like you are getting older spending over 180 minutes watching his fictional life.  If you are a man, you may just feel like your beard needs a shave after getting through the whole movie.  Ironic considering the main character is getting younger as you get older watching this story.

3. Lack of emotional connection to the characters. 

Maybe Cate Blanchett's character had some relate-able moments, but overall I failed to connect with many if any of the characters in this movie.  It was quite a story, but if you don't feel emotionally connected to anyone after 2.5 hours of your time, it feels like a wasted effort.

Conclusion :
I'm learning the hard way that the Academy Awards and Oscars don't seem to appreciate movies the way that I do.  In fact, when movies win awards like that - I'm almost inclined to skip them.  I have watched awarded movie after awarded movie and came away,  disappointed.  I'm not looking for a movie to be just edgy and go where no movie has gone before.  I'm looking for an edifying experience when I watch a movie.  Benjamin Button didn't quite come out a winner in that light for me.  Maybe the book is better - I don't know.   What I do know is that I will not be re-watching this tale.