Fincher's Masterpiece Blend of Craft and Emotions

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2008)

David Fincher has been one of the most impressive directors of the last decades, switching genres with an ease impossible to many of other overrated directors who chose safe themes and approaches. His latest is probably the closest he comes to a standard epic drama, but there is very little that is standard about this gorgeous, impressive, and very moving film.
Fincher follows the rather special life of Benjamin Button, a man born looking like he is in his eighties, who finds his way to the loving arms of Queenie, a woman who will raise with the tender and selfless she seems to dispense so naturally. Their scenes together are likely not to leave a dry eye in the house. One can almost feel the love on the screen. As Benjamin grows older, he encounters a series of special characters and discovers that a full life requires understanding and sacrifices, regardless of whether the process is chronologically correct.
He encounters people who make a mark on his life, and each incident is highly valued by Benjamin, stressing the positive over the negative. He understands some people shape us and our destiny, and we must learn to appreciate their contributions. As the epic continues, he discovers love, sex, courage, the irrationality of some events in every person's life, and as the center of the story, one very special person, who will be his loved one until the day he dies.
It's wonderful to see how Fincher hits the right notes and uses a marvelous musical score, some of the most breathtaking cinematography of the year. Yet, in order to turn this from just an ordinary tale to a masterpiece, he must rely on the acting of all the participants, in particular, Swinton, Pitt, Blanchett, and the superb Taraji P. Henson. These performers convey depth and complexity with simple looks, their work more difficult to carry out because of the extended amounts of make up and special effects.
Watching Pitt grow older, yet become older could have been a very distracting gimmick, but the maturity and intensity of his performance carry the film easily; his various scenes with Henson, as mentioned before are the emotional core of the character, shaping his eventual relationships with the other women, particularly the one who will become the love of his life, and will eventually be at his deathbed.
"Button" is an amazing work of art, a movie that seldom is made because it requires dedication, vision, an understanding of the beauty that surrounds us and exists inside of us. Some people call it a showcase for the power to impress others with technology, as I see it, "Button" employs our technological advances to put together magical imagery that enhances the inspiration, imagination, and the hard work put together by people like Fincher and Roth and their flawless cast.
"Button" is the diamond at the top of a year that has given us its share of jewels.