Complex movie that requires some attention

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2009)

This film is quite a disappointment for me. I expected a marvelous masterpiece that will easily settle in my top-10 films ever. Well, that's not the case here.
Oh, before I start, I better explicitly warn you that I have myriad spoilers here, about specific scenes and ending. Beware...
First of all, the film is not coherent with its vision and message. Some aspects of it say "No matter what life throws at you - you can still do what you want and be what you really are." It's supported with Benjamin struggling to be an ordinary person despite his unusual circumstances; with the old man's stories about the lightning strikes and his bottom line of "you know what, I'm just glad I'm alive;" with Benjamin's letter to his daughter; and with the finale of everyone being simply what they are - mothers, artists or dancers. But ultimately, this message has nothing to do with the actual case of Benjamin. For the matter, he could've been simply ill, or handicapped, or just weak-minded (someone said Forrest?) and that message would've still been conveyed. The film doesn't really deal with the complexity of aging. Motives such as "nothing lasts" and the clock-running-backwards try to deal with this issue, but without really saying anything meaningful. That's why the film is incoherent - it has a statement about our ability to live our lives despite its obstacles, and at the same time it's clumsy with attempts to say something about aging. This incoherence is the fault of Eric Roth, the screenwriter, to my opinion.
Fincher is not as brilliant as I expected either. For one thing, he couldn't make Brad Pit deliver a breathtaking performance. It's true that Benjamin is a pithy character, yet actors can create deep, round characters with their body language and the look in their eyes (take Gene Hackman in The Conversation as an example). Unfortunately, Benjamin is not such a character. Can someone tell how weird and startling it must be to live as someone who ages backwards? I can't, and Pit's performance doesn't help a bit in that matter. Moreover, to my opinion Fincher was off-guard in some scenes. For example, the collage of the couple being deeply in love - with cuts of them sailing a boat, then their heads popping out of a lake, and eventually them sitting on a paradise-like beach. Give me a break... Fincher also disappoints when it comes to minimalistic scenes that focus on the relationship between people. The scene of Benjamin leaving the house should've been horrible to watch! For crying out loud, the husband and father of this family is about to leave his whole life behind! Pit plays it as if he has just finished a flirt with some girl and has to hurry outside before she catches him. Cate Blanchett somehow manages to save this scene (she's terrific throughout the film, by the way). And, most importantly, she'd doing it using nothing but body language and face expressions, which show how much better she is in acting than Pit. I think Fincher could've used a deeper score in the scene, focus more on Benjamin's face, make the camera close in on him slowly to catch his inner conflict and huge sacrifice, and make Pit open up and show some more emotion. Pit's demeanor is rather emotionless in this scene, as well as in other allegedly strong scenes like the discovery of his father, the death of his mother and Daisy's dismissal of him after her injury. The only scene where Pit gives a strong performance is when Benjamin pays a visit to NY, only to find out that Daisy has a life of her own and that he's not in it.
An interesting thing about this film, which scores a point for Eric Roth and Fincher, is that it seems to grow old as it goes along, just like the characters in it. At first we get a magical story, just as everything seems magical when you're young. The shots are quick, the camera is dynamic, the music is a magnificent New Orleans Jazz. There are many characters and they all seem special in some way. At the beginning, every aspect of the film behaves like a child discovering the world (not surprisingly, Pit doesn't play Benjamin in most of the beginning). At the end, things are different. Suddenly the music is more tragic, shots are longer, camera is still, and there are no more new characters. Only Benjamin and Daisy remain, like an old couple that has nothing but each other. When I first saw the film, I thought Fincher was simply loosing it towards the end, because the film didn't quite carry me away. But after watching it the second time, I figured out it was planned. I think Roth and Fincher wanted us not to be carried away, just like life and aging don't carry us away but rather slow down and then just... well, end. The film even says it: "Sometimes you just have to let go." That's why I wrote in my title that this film is a bit complex and demands some digestion.
So, to sum up - the screenplay is pretty interesting and complex, but fails to come up with a strong, evident message. Fincher manages to create some magical moments, especially at the beginning, but at other times (especially at intimate, inner, emotional moments) he's under his usual level. Pit is a miscast (like watching Forrest Gump without Tom Hanks) and the acting level is redeemed by Blanchett and Taraji P. Henson. The score and filming are beautiful (like the sunset and submarine scenes). I think this production could've done much more than it actually has done, but it's still a good, stimulating film.