"I was born under unusual circumstances."
And so begins The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be.
Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, Benjamin Button is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.
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"after being thoroughly excited to see this flm, I left a bit empty"
Yes, the film is long but it is engaging and you will want to know what happens next. The photography is luminous, both intimate and panoramic. Being a story that spans practically the entire 20th century, the costumes, set design and make-up are meticulous.Yes, Benjamin Button is a good film and a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
It looks beautiful, sounds beautiful, it's a great high concept idea, but what do the film-makers get really out of that besides the "life is unpredictable... you never know when change is gonna come" theme that permeates the film? The aging of Brad Pitt is praiseworthy and will be the most remembered feature of this film. Unfortunately, during several brief but key scenes, the filmmakers inexplicably decided to jettison the aging techniques and cast another actor in Brad Pitt's role. I did find myself losing emotional attachment to the film at these points.It is a kind of flawed marvel, a work of mainstream movie art that is tainted by an excess of unnecessary storytelling in a film that requires that it be strong throughout.
It takes a lot of guts to pull off a picture like this, and I am glad Fincher made it, though I'm not sure that it's not something I would watch again from start to finish when all is said and done you leave the theater thinking "how did they make Brad Pitt look old and young". As for the film itself its full of clichés desperately trying to cater to our emotions but it didn't quite fit the high mark I had originally anticipated.