What did you take away from Benjamin Button?

[CoffeeCat]

*****************spoilers***********************

I know I'm kinda late to the game. I just saw Benjamin Button last night.

I thought it was amazing and full of lessons about life and love.

It's a lot to absorb. I think I may need to see it again.

What I took away from this movie is that life flies by, and so much of it
is so precious--yet we don't realize it while it's happening. And that it's
important to slow down and realize when those moments are happening and to
savor them.

When Daisy was dancing outside, as Benjamin walked--I realized, oh my gosh--there
will be a day when I can't do a cartwheel or mow the lawn. I'll be unable. So,
what do you do with that realization? You learn to savour and appreciate, I suppose.

The final scenes--where Benjamin was quickly getting younger--and losing his ability to
communicate and speak--as he grew from a young child, to a toddler and into a baby--were
just so heart wrenching to me. Maybe because I have young children. The time goes
so fast, and children are an everyday reminder of how fast your life and the people around
you change---which forces you to contemplate your own changes.

So, what did you take away from Benjamin Button? Did you like the movie?

[Cassandra]

1. I wish I could remember all of the letter...

he writes to his daughter. It really affected me but now I can't remember the details.

Just found this part: For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

[Mz Pip]

2. I just saw it last night, too.

Even though Benjamin was born 'old' he still had to go through the same learning processes we all do - learning to walk, learning to love, learning to make a place for yourself in the world and then watching it all slip away as the years go by. Although the aging backward was an interesting vehicle I didn't find it added that much to that theme.

I wasn't sure what to expect since I've heard people who loved it and people who hated it. I guess I was somewhere in the middle. I really liked the cinematography and the almost film noir of it. The sets were wonderful.

I think I will try to find the short story it was based on. It would be interesting to see how much of it was changed.

[villager]

3. I saw it about three weeks before it opened, sitting next to both my sons

So didn't have many prefab expectations going in, for which I was thankful.

During the scene at his daughter's birthday, when he suddenly realizes he'll have to leave -- because he'll keep "getting younger" (i.e., inevitably growing away from her), I just lost it, thinking of how fleeting my own sons' childhoods are.

And so I did the most "movie blubbering" I've done since... well, "V for Vendetta," I think! ;-)

[kimmylavin]

4. I'm actually going to watch it today...

so I'll let you know. :)

(Having a sob-fest today: Benjamin Button, The Notebook, and either Sands of Iwo Jima or Flags of My Fathers)

[hayu_lol]

8. Really loved the movie...

perhaps because I'm already at the 'far end' of the bridge. Turned the world as we know it upside down.

A very well done movie, great casting and direction.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. That I would never get those two hours of my life back

I disliked it intensely and put a review on my blog:

http://eyeblister.blogspot.com/2009/01/curious-special-effects-of-benjamin.html

[KamaAina]

7. Two hours?! You must have seen the edited version

the one they should have released in the first place. The one I saw was nearly four hours. I didn't dislike it intensely, but four hours?! :boring:

[DavidDvorkin]

12. Was it that long?

I don't remember, actually. It did seem long -- eight hours, ten hours, a lifetime.

[leftofthedial]

6. free large drink refill

and a smile

[KamaAina]

9. New Orleans is among the best of all places to shoot a film

and part-time NOLA resident Brad Pitt is a damn good actor.

That's about it, really.

[Marr]

10. I'm not in a position to critique the movie, as I spent most of it drooling at

Cate Blanchett. I'd buy a ticket to hear her read a newspaper for 2 hours.

And to my delight, I found that many of the scenes that lacked a Cate Blanchett did at least feature a vintage motorcycle.

[DS1]

11. a broken fastforward button

[KamaAina]

15. The Curious Case of the Broken Fast Forward Button

:P

[MilesColtrane]

13. A newfound sense of disappointment in David Fincher, and...

...a renewed lustful fixation on Cate Blanchett...

[Touchdown]

14. That it takes 6 actors to do a lifetime backwards.

;)