Adaptation Displacement: More people are familiar with the film than the short story it's adapting.
Alternate Character Interpretation: Benjamin's decision to leave Daisy to raise Caroline is said to be because he doesn't want Daisy to have to take care of them both or to expose a child to such unusual circumstances. But since his mind seems to get younger as he does, did he sense that he was going to become immature and likely to leave them out of 'youthful' recklessness later, and thought it best to do so beforehand?
Award Snub: It seems odd that Cate Blanchett wasn't included in the Best Actress nominations, especially in light of how the movie was nominated in so many other categories, since she plays Daisy across several decades. It was an especially stacked year in terms of nominees, and she was up against Meryl Streep for Doubt, Angelina Jolie for Changeling and Kate Winslett for The Reader (which was infamously campaigned for by Harvey Weinstein).
Ending Fatigue: The combination of slow pacing and a 166-minute run time will leave some audiences bored.
Harsher in Hindsight: Brad Pitt's daughter Shiloh Jolie-Pitt plays Caroline as a child, who he eventually abandons can sting in light of his own very acrimonious divorce from Angelina Jolie, in which he was accused of physical and verbal abuse.
Genius Bonus: Teddy Roosevelt seemed particularly moved when the clock was dedicated to the sons that died in World War I. This scene is even more impactful if you know that Teddy Roosevelt did actually have a son killed in that war.
Out of the Ghetto: For a (relatively) fantasy movie, it did great with the Oscars and critics alike.
They Copied It, So It Sucks!: Many make this observation to this film in its similarities to Forrest Gump; written by the same screenwriter, about a guy's life as he deals with the love of his life, encountering many people and parenthood.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Probably the most common criticism of the film is that the curious case of the title barely impacts the plot at all. Seriously, does no one in the world take any interest in this phenomenon?
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: It seems odd that Daisy would hide the fact that Benjamin is Caroline's father from her until her deathbed. Her second husband was a widower and if she didn't want to explain Benjamin's condition, she could easily have said that he had died too, since he had no plans to be involved in her life.
