The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Directed by David Fincher, starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, and Jared Harris - Rated PG-13

I reviewed this a while back when I was still writing my reviews through a Facebook application, so I figured I should give this one a full review here.

When I first saw this I thought it would be a lock for best picture. Then the Slumdog Millionaire craze took hold and everybody seemed to forget about this movie. Instead of calling it magical or whatever, they were saying how it had no heart and was an unofficial sequel/remake of Forrest Gump. I can see the Gump comparisons, but that didn't bother me because I like Gump and it's the same writer, and let's face it, everything's a copy of everything if you look deep enough. What I cannot understand is the claim that this film lacks emotion, or heart. That blows my mind. One more response to a complaint: one critic (well, it was from a slightly popular movie site, but it's still a critique) commented that if the whole backwards aging thing was taken out of the story, then there wouldn't be much there. Seriously? Okay, let's apply that to every film out there. Take the idea of the Force from Star Wars and it's kind of boring. Take the powers away from (insert comic book character here) and it's really a basic story. The point of the film is the struggle of life if you age backwards, so of course the movie would be empty without that aspect! I just had to rant a bit there because it angered me that this movie turned into the film to pick apart once Slumdog fever took hold.

Anyway, this film, if you didn't already know, is about Benjamin Button, a man who ages backwards. He doesn't just age throughout the movie, though. Benjamin has a life and it's interesting and a bit depressing. Left at an nursing home by his father, Benjamin grows up around death and is told he is likely to die soon, himself. The whole idea of death looming at all times finally gets Benjamin going. If he might die soon, better to die while actually experiencing life. So he strikes off on a Forrest Gump-like journey in which he tries to figure out where he fits into it all. Of course he has a love interest or two along the way, the main one involving Daisy (Blanchett), which show how timing can be everything in a lifetime.

Now on to the acting. Many critics have said that the aging effects outshine Brad Pitt's performance in this. I disagree completely. In fact, after my first viewing, I was impressed with how Pitt was able to transcend the CG-work and actually give a performance. The CG is great, but look at Pitt's eyes in the early scenes. I have always felt that great acting is done through the eyes (a little glance or twitch here and there goes a long way in my book). Pitt adds humanity to the role through his eyes and his voice is heartbreaking at times. Blanchett does a fine job herself, though I had trouble understanding her lines in her old age segments. Jared Harris adds a lot of fun to the film as the drunken sea captain (yes, I know, Gump, Gump, Gump) and Jason Flemyng makes the father character a bit more interesting than he may have been in a lesser actor's hands. And, of course, Taraji P. Henson anchors the first half of the movie as Benjamin's adoptive mother.



The CG effects and the acting are impressive throughout this film, but the style David Fincher creates is what makes this film great. There is a storybook quality to this movie that's hard to completely explain. The story itself, the use of colors, the blurring effects, the narration, the quirky side characters (like the guy who was struck by lightning seven times), and just the way the story is told in general all create an effect that you don't get out of movies very often. And while this movie may run a bit long, it's that storybook quality that makes it all worth it.


I need to say more on David Fincher himself. This is the same guy who made Se7en, Fight Club, and Zodiac; hardly storybook-type films to say the least. But they are stylish films and this movie is further evidence that Fincher is one of the best directors working today. If he keeps this up, it won't be long until he has an Oscar or two.

So be sure to check out this film and don't get hung up on the Forrest Gump comparisons and certainly don't watch it wondering if it would be any good if the aging gimmick was removed (in fact, don't look at any movie's main feature and imagine what it would be like without it). Just let yourself fall into the story as I did and you'll find yourself wondering how anyone could think Slumdog Millionaire is a better film.

Eric Harris - www.canneltoncritic.com

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

(Thanks to our being invited to a special pre-release screening of THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, Needtovent is pleased to bring you this review well in advance of it's Christmas Day opening.)

Needtovent hereby predicts at least a half-dozen Academy Award Nominations for this truly epic motion picture based on a short story by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and brought to the big screen by Director David Fincher (SE7EN, FIGHT CLUB) and Screenwriter Eric Roth (FORREST GUMP, WOLFEN, THE HORSE WHISPERER, ALI). With a virtually perfect cast thanks to Laray Mayfield and his associates and the impeccable technical aspects from all departments helping support Fincher's stylistic vision, BENJAMIN BUTTON will soon take its place among the best feature films released since the beginning of this millennium.

That's high praise. High praise, indeed, but it is no exaggeration to say that anyone seeing BENJAMIN BUTTON will surely be haunted by it's dark, but ultimately life-affirming theme for a long, long time to come.


"My name is Benjamin Button, and I was born under unusual circumstances. While everyone else was agin', I was gettin' younger...all alone."

Benjamin Button certainly has a most unusual tale to tell, as it is the unique story of an elderly man who ages backwards. This "Curious Case" begins in the year 1919, on the very evening that The First Great War came to an end, when Little Benjamin's delivery is not only marred by the tragic death of his mother, but he inexplicably exits the womb at the ripe age of 75. Benjamin's father is understandably overcome with both grief and anger, causing him to abandon the newborn child on the steps of a large retirement home. Fortunately, little Benjamin is found by a kind-hearted black woman named Queenie who, as luck would have it, believes she cannot have children of her own, and so she embraces the opportunity to take the abandonded baby in and to give him all the love and attention she can as though he were her very own.


The doctors who examine little Benjamin are all convinced that he has, at most, days to live, but as the days turn to months and the months turn to years young Benjamin finds himself growing in size and health and being accepted by everyone he comes into contact with, especially the retirees living in the home. As Benjamin continues to get younger and wiser he is repeatedly reminded that the most important thing in life is to do what one is meant to do. And so, as Benjamin's travels ultimately take him to such exotic places as Russia and India, it is this philosophy which he embraces at every twist and turn comprising a complicated, but highly fullfilling life.


The stellar cast is headlined by Brad Pitt as Benjamin. His performance is brilliant, as is that of Cate Blanchett as Benjamin's one and only true love, Daisy. Their on-screen chemistry is a joy to watch. Likewise, Tilda Swinton, as Elizabeth Abbott, Julia Ormond, as Caroline, Jarred Harris, as Captain Mike and Taraji P. Henson, as Queenie, all deliver especially winning and memorable performances.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON was shot using a Thompson VIPER FilmStream Camera using Zeiss DigiPrime Lenses. This is a camera package we are not familiar with, however Cinematographer Claudio Miranda has done a fantastic job with this equipment and I cannot help but assume more feature films will be shot with this highly capable combination. The Production Design by Donald Graham Burt also deserves special mention, as does the entire special effects team, but the biggest praise of all must go to the 32-member make-up crew who worked in conjuction with the CG experts responsible for believably aging all of the characters over the course of seven decades. Utilizing state-of-the-art motion capture technology called the "Contour System," the actual faces of Pitt, Blanchett, et al were magically placed on the bodies of age-appropriate actors required for the scene. This all sounds a bit bizarre, draconian even, but the end result is unforgettable -- having the actual face of Brad Pitt, professionally embellished by highly talented make-up artists, appear seamlessly on an infant's body provides a sense of realism that, heretofore, has never been realized.


Of course, no film is perfect, and so we should mention that one Needtovent staffer found herself distracted on at least several occasions by Mr. Pitt's inconsistent New Orleans accent. Also, just how Benjamin came to be a person who ages backwards is never explained, nor do we see very many characters who find this unprecedented state of affairs to be all that surprising. As an audience member one must simply accept what is presented on screen and not dwell on the whys and wherefores. And, lastly, some of the dialogue comes across as simply "too cute" -- given the fact that Eric Roth also wrote the screenplay for FORREST GUMP there was a time or two I thought I might hear something about a box of damn chocolates. Luckily that never happened, nor did any of his "writer's convenience" come across that inherently stilted or corny.

Minor quibbles aside, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON remains a phenominal cinematic achievment, it is a film that is highly entertaining, epic in scope, and blessed with a multitude of technical accomplishments that surely merits a "must see" status in what looks like a very solid Holiday line-up of films. And it has heart. Perhaps Benjamin's final entry in his journal best provides a positive, uplifting lesson we should all come to realize, "And maybe all that matters is no matter if we live our lives backwards or forwards...it really does not make a difference as long as we lived our lives well."

For anyone with a Timex or a Rolex, whether you are on Greenwich Mean Time or Daylight Savings Time, it doesn't get much better than this.

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Robert A. Nowotny

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008)

***USA

No one will argue that this sentimental-whimsical behemoth was designed and produced with a concrete purpose in mind beyond bagging a bundle of Ampass gold (and maybe dollars). David Fincher apes Robert Zemeckis, Brad Pitt ages backwards (the CGI gives much better face than he does) and the first two hours are soul-crushing. And yet, in the closing hour, as the odd tragedy at the core of F. Scott Fitzgerald's original short story breaks through, neither the pandering nor the staggering silliness that is the Hurricane Katrina framing device manage to fully mute its resonance.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Movie Review (iReel.com)

The plot for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is really simple. Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) was born with a condition; a condition that makes him age backwards. Instead of growing old, Benjamin started very, very old and ages younger and younger through the years. The movie revolves around the point-of-view of Benjamin through important snippets of his life via his diary. From when he was abandoned by his father, the time he met Daisy Fuller (Cate Blanchett) and when they met halfway and had the same age and until his eventual "teen" years.

For the verdict of the film, this is one of the best films we watched this year. Even though with all the hype, it still delivered on its promises on most parts. The first thing you will probably notice with this film are the effects used. From the time dependent settings or just plain Benjamin Button, it was all stunning. You have to see Brad Pitt as an old person and even as a teenager! We also liked the dialogue used. Some people may be put off as for most of the three hour film are just dialogues between the various characters. But in this case, we believe the dialogue is just incredible. As for the story, we liked it but felt that it was not the fairy tale story we imagined. Maybe it is just us, but the love between Benjamin and Daisy seems to be so messed up the whole time that the seriousness of their love was put off big time. But that is just a minor complaint to a great film. Not only does it have a good story overall, nice effects and wonderful dialogue but there are actually a lot of moral lessons to be learned here that anyone and everyone can use in their life! Now that is a mark of a great film!

Finally, you can watch this film online if you missed it out before via iReel.com. Do not forget that you can Watch Movies Online at iReel.com

Rating: 4 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:
- you have to see the effects used on Brad Pitt's character!
- the screenplay was top-notch
- the script was really fantastic!
- Benjamin Button and his condition is not the only curious thing but actually the story of his whole life as well
- considering the films that are coming out now in local cinemas, this is the best of the bunch by a mile!

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the love story seems to be raw and disappointing
- the very long running time may bore you
- dialogues might bore you

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Recommendations:

Last updated: 2010-03-12 06:49:02 by user06

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Curious, indeed.

Once in a while, a movie so unforgettable graces our screens that long after the credits roll, your world is still filled with thoughts and images of it..

Remember the brilliant Forrest Gump?

Now, in this decade, people will remember The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.


I give the film: 5.0/5

From the poster above (and I guess from the media), you would have heard of this Brad Pitt movie whereby he ages backwards. Yes, which means he is born an old man (the first poster on top) and slowly progresses in life and finally dies an infant.

Before you dismiss this as yet another weird kind of Hollywood movie, let me tell you that this story is as close you'll get as watching the entire life story of someone being played on screen.

Together with Benjamin you'll laugh, cry, and revel in whatever the world has to offer an innocent, old man as he grows into a wise,young man, however weird that sentence might sound.

And you can only hope that you'll live half the life of his.


Besides being deeply moving and beautifully nostalgic, the movie boasts great cinematography and sweeping storytelling.

At the core of this film is a love story between the growing old Cate Blanchett (looking stunning as always) and the growing young Brad Pitt (his boyish features but mature stature making him pitch-perfect for this role).


We follow the ups and downs of their love and eventually, the film's most magical moment happens, together with the film's classic line: "We're meeting in the middle... we finally caught up with each other.."

It hits you. They're at the prime of their lives, and the audience, like the characters, don't want that perfect moment to end.

But of course, as Benjamin reminds us throughout the course of the film, "Nothing lasts."

That's life for you.

But the one fine thing that endears, though, is the fact that we leave the theatre deeply touched by the life of this extraordinary individual, and we're left to ponder about the lives of our own.

Wilson Ng - http://wilsoniscurious.blogspot.com/

Last updated: 2010-03-14 05:09:51 by wilsoniscurious

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

I don’t know if you know, but David Fincher is my favorite director of all times.  I was torn in between PANIC ROOM, ZODIAC, and BUTTON. After coming up with this list I realized I only had room for one of his movies :(  In the end, BUTTON won, out of sheer scope, technical wizardry, vision, and a story that I found amazingly beautiful and just the right amount of odd.  Full of heart (some people dare to say it was “cold”) and a last shot of its main stars that was just heartbreaking.  The acting was superb, and the score was stirring (listen to it on cd). Another classic in a directorial career full of them.

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the curious case of benjamin button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

This is the best movie I’ve seen in a while.  It’ll be hard for any of the other new movies this week to beat it.  Marley and Me was the number one at my theater but there’s no way it’s as good as Benjamin Button.

Benjamin Button is like Forrest Gump meets Titanic.  Except it doesn’t suck.  It is quite long though.  And I think they could have cut out some of the voice over by the crypt keeper and eliminated about twenty minutes of movie, but whatever. 

And when I say crypt keeper, I mean Cate Blanchett.  The whole thing is a flashback kinda movie.  Cate is on her deathbed and her daughter is there with her reading Benjamin Button’s diary.  And it keeps coming back to old, death bed Cate every little bit.  And I really could have done without all that. 

It is a truly epic romance.  I’m not gonna say it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen on film before.  Like the TV ad is saying, but you really don’t see things this moving, touching, funny all the time.  I almost got a little teary a couple times.  And laughed out loud more than a couple of times.

It’s just awesome.  Five shriveled old babies out of five.  I might pay full price for it when it comes out on DVD.

Cal Reed

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The real tragedy of Benjamin Button is not that a man ages backward and is therefore inexorably pulled away from everyone he loves.

The real tragedy is the running time.

The audience itself does a bit of aging over the thirty-four hours it takes director Fincher and writer Eric Roth to tell the story F. Scott Fitzgerald pulled off in twelve pages.

The running time isn't the problem, though. It's a symptom. The problem is a rambling, unfocused, episodic narrative that tries to encompass every aspect of life, and therefore encompasses none. Roth did the exact same thing with his famous "Forest Gump." He writes great scenes. Not great stories. Great stories are made on the backs of hard decisions. Great stories are about great material left out.

If I were editing "Button," I'd cut out almost everything that doesn't bear directly on the Blanchett/Pitt love story. That relationship -- and its tragic impossibility -- is the reason for making the film. Don't obscure it with tugboat captains and pygmy raconteurs.

The beautiful story hidden in this movie comes out at the end. The last twenty minutes of the film -- culminating with baby Pitt looking into Blanchett's eyes a final time before dying -- are genuinely affecting.

This is the downside of artists having total control over their material. Sometimes you need that idiot Harvard grad with total power over your movie to ask the irritating but invaluable question: "But how does it advance the plot?"

Good endings are so hard to pull off. They depend on sheer inspiration. How sad is it to see a bad movie like Button with such a good ending?

It's tragic.

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is quite a lovely film. It's about a guy named Benjamin Button who is born under unusual circumstances because he ages in reverse. The movie tracks his life story as he goes through this strange aging process and tells a tale of war, death and love.



Now, ya'll are reading this summary and thinking, "Hey.. that's Forrest Gump without the aging thing." Well yeah it is. Matter of fact the same guy who wrote Forrest Gump wrote Benjamin Button to. Personally I preferred Forrest Gump but that doesn't make Benjamin Button any less of a fantastic movie.



The film is directed by David Fincher who is in my opinion one of the greatest new directors of our time. He is the man who did Se7en, Zodiac and Fight Club one of my favorite films of all time. I'm actually hoping he wins the Best Director award over Danny Boyle because it's bee a long time coming for him.



I don't get what is so great about Brad Pitt's performance here. Is it the accent or something? Cause that was the only thing he changed when he's playing Benjamin Button. Hey, Oscar people.. just because an actor is in a movie that's nearly 3 hours long doesn't warrant him a best actor nomination.



Now lets be fair, this is one of Brad Pitts stronger performances in a long time but he has done so much better like in Fight Club and 12 Monkeys. He was just okay to me in this one.



I felt the better performances of the film came from the smaller characters. Taraji P. Henson is fantastic as the mother figure of the film who practically flowing with unconditional love like Mother Theresa or something.



Tilda Swinton finally plays someone likable for once as Benjamin Buttons first love and she is an absolute goddess in the film. Jared Harris was great to as the sort of Lieutenant Dan of the movie. I found all these characters much more interesting to watch than Brad Pitt.



But I absolutely loved the make up in this movie man. They must have drowned brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in heaps of make u because their characters go through man different ages i the movie and the make up looks so believable to the point i thought it was all CGI! The best one was when they made Brad Pitt look 19. Wow!! Imma sure girls would have swooned like they saw Edward Cullen without the pasty whiteness. Totally support this movie winning best make up.



The cinematography and art direction of 1940's New Orleans is absolutely stunning. I also really liked that train station clock thingy. You know.. the one where the needle is moving in the opposite direction? That clock is pretty hahahaha.



Benjamin Button is a fantastic film that is a more dramatic and magical version of Forrest Gump and has the sexy Brad Pitt in it who does do a decent job. But it might not be for everyone cause it's long. And when I say long, I mean 3 hours long.

RATNG: 8/10

NicholasC

Last updated: 2010-02-23 02:22:24 by user01

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

When did the passive protagonist become desirable? I mean, Beowulf didn’t know interesting people; he was Beowulf!, that’s why they named the story after him. A hero’s job is to act. It’s the mass of humanity that lead lives of quiet desperation. That’s why we don’t (or didn’t use to) sing their praises. Be somebody – then be a protagonist. The problem with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is that – aside from aging backwards – its hero is as memorable as an envelope. He waits his whole life for a girl and then he turns into a baby. If he were a Viking they’d have fed him to something interesting. Illness does not make him charismatic.

In a storybook version of New Orleans where racism doesn’t exist and aging is like a second childhood, Benjamin Button is left on a doorstep. He’s just been born, but he looks ancient. Bitten by the magic-realism bug, he’s aging backwards. His story begins in 1918. Over the next seventy years, Benjamin uncrumples – like a wad of paper turned back into a tree – every year making him leaner, healthier and more wooden. He meets a girl; becomes a sailor and… and… That’s his lot. Most of the time he lives in a retirement home; taking slow, meditative steps through life, never ceasing to be contemplative. He’s an observer. He has librarian genes. When Benjamin has an orgasm he probably cries out “ssshhhhhhh!”

Brad Pitt is so boring as Benjamin that at times you wonder if he’s awake. He has one all-purpose expression for the movie, whether his mother has died or if he’s ordering coffee: blocky – like new-cut money – so that all life seems ragged and juicy next to him. Pitt’s Benjamin is the sort of man who’s damn lucky he looks like Pitt, so even his blankness seems enticing. But you never get any feel for him other than for his patience. He’s the worst of men: a hero who’s prepared to wait. It doesn’t occur to director David Fincher or to writer Eric Roth that waiting is a crime in movies. We all wait! That’s why “action!” is a word gifted to movies. To watch Benjamin potter about is like watching a winning lottery ticket sit idle. He shouldn’t be allowed a life on the shelf! And yet there he is. Three hours on screen and his biggest dream is to own a house with his girlfriend.

Cate Blanchett is good as The Girl, even if she does love a door-stop. Sadly, the movie finds it necessary to have her in old-age makeuptelling us the story (damn you Titanic! This book-end bullshit is all your fault), but at least she isn’t out-acted by prosthetics. The main problem for Blanchett is that she’s playing an uber-version of Hollywood’s ideal of womanhood; that is, a woman who, when young, finds old men sexy, and who, when old, knows well-enough to ask for a divorce. I particularly loved the scene where Blanchett can’t bear for Pitt to see her looking fifty (a scene which is played like Blanchett was Dracula and Pitt was the sun). The movie is no more about graceful acceptance of age than a Miss World contest. What it really says is: if Benjamin Button had a sister, she’d be shunned.

Where the real David Fincher went is anyone’s guess. The director who made Fight Club takes a nap in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Like Spielberg in the wilderness years, he still knows what a movie should look like… just not what a movie is. People will say Benjamin Button looks good, but it’s a catalogue-look. The movie is too soothing. It’s as emotional as a pillow fight. Yes, there’s death, and the movie deals with mortality – but only the same way a show home speaks of death, only the way a shopping mall speaks of eternity.

Years ago, it wasn’t enough for a three hour movie to show you the world; it had to have a script that knew something too. Lawrence of Arabia could have got by on battles, and the desert, and the physical beauty of Peter O’Toole – but why not have a great script to boot? The trouble for Benjamin Button is that it’s written by someone who thinks “it’s never too late” is a profound statement. Eric Roth would have been lucky to be fetching coffee on the Lawrence set. There’s such a dearth of wisdom in Benjamin Button, it could have been written by a fax machine. It’s a movie about a face-lift that lasts seventy years.  That summary is almost literal.

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THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (2008)

BOTTOM LINE: A rich, heart-warming film that takes the unusual premise of a man growing younger and using it to provide a number of life lessons about making the most of what you have been given.

THE GOOD: Director David Fincher has made some very rich and complex films in his career, many exploring the darker sides of humanity. With “Curious Case”, he still retains his unique style but manages to fuse it with a more heart-warming feel without losing touch with reality which he could easily have done given the quirky premise of a man born old who grows younger. Many great themes of life, love and death are covered, particularly the ideas of destiny, fate and choice. Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is abandoned at birth by his father who thinks he is a monster. He is taken in by a loving black woman who raises him in her old person's home who are there to live out their few remaining years. As Benjamin grows, he gains a unique perspective on life; he learns quickly about the end of life and what it means to not waste any moments you have been given. Coupled with his unusual condition which makes him an outcast, Benjamin develops in to a gentle, non-judgmental character you cannot help but love. This is no more demonstrated in his relationship with Daisy (Cate Blanchett) whom he meets early in his life and leads to a rocky friendship to an eventual loving relationship. Fate continues to bring them together, and when their respective ages become closer, they develop a relationship which is full of highs, but is doomed to end early as their age gap begins to widen again. One brilliantly constructed scene involves a car accident involving Daisy. Benjamin re-constructs the incident in his mind, pointing out a number of very minor events, and if even one of these minor events had not occurred, she would not have been on the street at the time she was involved in the accident. In many ways, this scene envelopes the finer themes of fate that run throughout this film and how life can take things away from you in a single moment, a lesson which works for all of us in that we should never take our lives for granted. Both Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are perfect in their respective roles. Pitt delivers a very understated performance that is instantly loveable given Benjamin's gentle persona. Blanchett creates a complicated girl who has a very turbulent early life but becomes content and grounded when she becomes more intimately involved with Benjamin. The images are absolutely glorious. David Fincher is renowned for creating vivid, and carefully constructed shots and he does not disappoint in this movie, with each picture being a movie in itself.

THE BAD: The film feels a little long-winded. At over two and a half hours, the film does have a slow pace which could have been improved with some editing. The film is not boring, but there were some moments where I found myself shifting in my seat, more because of the running time than the story. The scenes involving Daisy as a dying woman in the hospital with her daughter reading Benjamin's diary do not always fit naturally in to the Benjamin's life story, and the moment where her daughter realises that Benjamin is her real father does not seem fair to the character when it happens. In many ways, “Curious Case” has a lot in common with “Forrest Gump”, but unlike the latter film, “Curious Case” does not have the same energy or pace to make it stand out as a masterpiece. Having made these points however, David Fincher has done a fabulous job with this film and it is worth seeing at the cinema.

RATING: 8/10

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

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Last updated: 2010-01-18 14:30:09 by malikaziz

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — 10

Now when I first saw this movie I had no idea what to expect. I honestly thought that it was not going to be good at all. I was also concerned that the movie was way too long, clocking in at 166 minutes, for its own good. But when I saw this movie in the theatres for the first time, I was absolutely sucked into it. From the beginning of the film I don’t think I blinked through the whole thing.

This is basically the story of a man who ages backwards. He starts off being born with cataracts, old skin, is wrinkly, etc. But as he ‘ages’ he actually gets younger. It creates for an amazing story, but it’s hard to understand your first time through since the whole concept is completely different than what we are used to. This is another one of those movies that I will not go into depth into the story because it is totally worth watching and I refuse to spoil this movie for anyone.

Now the pace of the movie was not very fast. It was actually quite slow, but with the topic of the movie being life, it makes perfect sense to be paced like it was. Now it was by no means boring, on the contrary it was intriguing the entire way through. I cannot think of another movie that comes close to almost 3 hours and have it peak my interest throughout the entire movie.
The music choice was absolutely stunning in this film. You never really noticed it was there unless you were looking for it, which is precisely how it should be. It should fit the mood of that portion of the story with no questions. The music was never overpowering, on the contrary it matched the mood so perfectly I could not have picked a better selection myself.

The other thing that got to me in this movie was how well they did the make-up (or CG in some cases) but there were times I questioned my sanity just because of how they made Brad Pitt look younger and younger, while everyone else got older and older. It totally blew my mind on how absolutely amazing of a job was done to the actors I cannot explain.

Now I would not say that Brad Pitt is my favorite actor. He has been in several of my favorite movies, and my all time favorite movie of all time, Fight Club. I cannot argue how much of a stage presence that he creates on screen anymore. It’s insane to me. I look forward to every movie he is in now just because of his work in Fight Club.

All in all you’d be a fool to not want to watch this movie. It was up for more awards than any other movie in the last Oscars, and for damn good reason. You will not be disappointed in this movie. I am still shocked to this day how good of a film it is.

Base Score = 10
+1 for Brad Pitt
+2 for an amazing Make-up/CG work
+1 for soundtrack
+1 for pace
+1 for story
+1 for making me cry at several points in this movie (Ok seriously I have no idea why my movie selections have been making me cry lately. Its weirding me out too.)
=17/10

Last updated: 2010-01-12 02:03:08 by Tolll

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A fervent watcher wouldn’t miss this film even if it’s not his cup of tea. Benjamin Button is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. With David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) as director, Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) and Robin Swicord (Memoirs of Geisha) as scriptwriters, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett as main actors, it seems like an Oscar winning combination.

The film opens with Caroline tending to her mother, old Daisy (Cate Blanchett with heavy prosthetic make up) and the story begins when Daisy, in her muffled voice, asks Caroline to read out an old diary belonging to Benjamin Button. The narration transits to the voice of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) as he tells his own life story. (Thank God it is not narrated by old Daisy!)

Benjamin Button is no ordinary person. He is born as a wrinkled and bizarre infant. Abandoned by his father, he is raised in a nursing home looking no different from the elderly. As years passed, it becomes apparent that he is getting stronger and younger. Despite having the atypical situation, Benjamin is like any other human. He falls in and out of love, finds a job, travels, meets the love of his life, etc. The only problem is that he is aging in reverse, which means as he visibly grows younger the people around him are withering with age. The looks don’t match, you see.

This movie is intriguing. It makes you wonder about life cycle. Isn’t life one big circle? People start out as innocent baby, bloom into immature child, then we learn things and become more understanding but as time goes by, most of us will forget about the past and become immature and innocent again. There are a lot to ponder about after watching this thought provoking film but I was already too sleepy for that. Benjamin Button’s life journey is filled with ups and down and it is long and winding. Seriously, long and winding. There are many sub-stories which I could do without but it seems necessary because after all this is about a person’s whole life. I should be happy they managed to summarise it in 165 minutes.

Ben Button is a lot like Forrest Gump but more sophisticated and with bigger budget, obviously. The two actors deliver their performances well and the filmmakers did a good job but they’re playing it safe. They’re following a safe formula so nothing could go wrong. A lot of people would love this film for its sophistication, classical outlook, touching story, Brad Pitt, philosophical theme, eccentric plot, etc. It is well done but I couldn’t lavish my praises on it.

If you could watch a movie for 165 minutes without dozing off then you’re up for it.

Mel says: 8.6/10

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