Today on my return to work, it was quite rainy. I worked out for a half an hour on the rowing machine at the gym. I am planning to run on the treadmill Wednesday and Thursday, but how far and how fast will depend on how I feel. I have a 5k in two weeks and another 5k on Father's Day.
For Memorial Day, my parents came over and watched the kids while Virginia and I went out to lunch. Then they stayed for dinner, which was nice. Virginia wanted to go to lunch so that we could have some time with just the two of us, but she was distant while we were alone.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Virginia and I watched Benjamin Button over the weekend. It is a very long movie at nearly three hours so we split it up in two days. Benjamin Button is based on a F Scott Fitzgerald short story. As an aside, I pass the church where F Scott Fitzgerald is buried every day going to work.
The story is told by a old lady in current times to her daughter while on her death bed. It starts with a clockmaker, who son dies in world war 1 so he makes a clock for a New Orleans train station that goes in reverse to bring back soldiers that died in the war. Benjamin Button ages in reverse. He was born as an old man at the end of world war 1. His mother died during childbirth and his father abandoned him to a lady named Queenie who runs a retirement home. The doctor who examined him when he was born said he had cataracts and other illnesses normally associated with the elderly and was not going to survive long. Queenie decides to raise him and he gets healthier. Apparently beyond the doctor examining Benjamin when he was a baby, they accept his condition and do not make any effort to determine why he is different. When he is about eight he appears to be just a regular old man. Benjamin bonds with a young girl named Daisy who was visiting her grandmother. We find out that the old lady telling the story is Daisy.
As the years go by, Benjamin gets younger looking. He starts to work on a tugboat. He meets Mr Buttons who does not tell him that Benjamin is his son. Benjamin actually looks older than him at this point. He starts to travel with the tugboat and has an affair with an older lady in England. Around this time, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor and Benjamin and the tugboat crew go to the war. Much of the crew dies but Benjamin makes it home safely. He visits Daisy who is a dancer in New York and find that she has a boyfriend. Benjamin's father tell him who he is and that the father is dying. The father, Mr Buttons runs a very profitable Button shop. When his father dies Benjamin inherits a substantial amount of money.
As the years go by, Benjamin visits Daisy after she has a serious leg injury when hit by a car in Paris. As they both are in middle age, Benjamin and Daisy become a couple and have a period for several year where they are very happy. Eventually they have a daughter, the same daughter that Daisy is telling the story to. Benjamin starts to realize that his getting younger is going to cause problems and leaves when the daughter is a year old. Daisy remarries and twelve years later, Benjamin visits her and see his daughter. Benjamin is a teenager at this point. Several years later, Daisy is called by social services who found her name all over Benjamin's diary. He is a young boy found alone. He is suffering from dementia and Daisy takes care of him until he is a baby and passes away. Around that same time the clock that goes in reverse in the train station is removed.
The story was strangely powerful considering the idea of someone aging in reverse is so unrealistic. The film was well done and worthy of the Academy Award nominations except I did not think that Brad Pitt's performance was particularly worthy of nomination. There was nothing wrong with Brad Pitts performance, but I did not think it was special either. I give the movie a B+.
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