Button up or Button down ?

Rating: 9/10 (6 June 2009)

There have been films that have had their protagonists relive the defining moments of their lives on their deathbeds. 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' adds a fresh clause to the aphorism that 'lives reflected upon are lives fully lived'. Would the experience be more fulfilling if relived by a person aging backwards ? David Fincher and Brad Pitt team up for the third time (Se7en, Fight Club) for this loose adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald's short story. As with the earlier films, the result is nothing short of brilliant. Using the ingenious device of a recollection within a recollection to enhance the rapport the audience has with the characters, the movie traces vignettes from the lives of Daisy (Cate Blanchett) and Benjamin (Brad Pitt), two people whose lives are inter-twined in a manner that has them in nearly every conceivable facet of love. It helps then that this is a pair that genuinely understand each other as actors and that their previous outing - Babel, featured a harrowing journey for the couple that eventually strengthened their bond. Their screen vibes form the crux of the film. Through them, the film examines a number of themes ranging from the human obsession with physical appearances to the idea that some bonds defy the most long-standing establishments. In that regard, the casting of Pitt and Blanchett with their matchless lines and physical grace makes perfect sense. Pitt, in particular, leaves no doubt as to why it has to be him as Benjamin and nobody else. With a deserved Oscar nod, his no-hassles acceptance of his peculiar condition is the highlight of the film. That it holds its own amidst the fantastic work by the make-up department is testimony to the performance.
Giving them great company are Taraji Henson as Queenie, Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth Abbott and Jared Harris as Captain Mike. Many performances, short albeit, deserve a mention but these are the three that stick with you. Straddling the performances is technical wizardry of a kind and degree that doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who is familiar with Fincher's style. So much so that some of his fervent critics have pointed out that this aspect of his films often takes priority over the human concerns that the script raises. His work here is a triumphant no. There is style but it never glosses over substance. If anything, the former accentuates the latter, be it the montage demonstrating the purpose of the 'anticlockwise' clock, the sepia drenched visuals or the narrative technique for the Paris segment.
The sheer variety of visuals lingers long after the viewing. Theodore Roosevelt ("I wish I had had a war to fight during my presidency") taking his hat off at the stated purpose of the 'anticlockwise' clock, Daisy's ballet performance in New York, the U-boat sequence, the Hummingbird fluttering on the hospital window. Ultimately, it's the fact that a film that could so easily have become what the title suggests, merely a curious case, instead goes on to strike a chord with audiences. That is its biggest triumph.