Case closes … eventually.
Captions don't count: There's no doubt this is a pretty movie, full of pretty people. As capital-F Filmmaking goes, it's a beaut. From a storytelling standpoint, it's a bit dull. About halfway through this lengthy evening's entertainment, I realized that if Benjamin didn't have his reverse-aging condition, this story might turn out just about the same: Boy is born with illness, learns to cope, survives tough lessons, leads a good life, loves, lives, dies. Really the only time when his condition makes an impact on the story itself is at the end, when he must choose between sticking around for his daughter (though he will soon decline "younger" than her), or to abandon her so her mother can find a more traditional man to raise the child. But for the seven or eight hours of film time until that choice, it's a finger-drumming slideshow of One Man's Life.
The Retort 