Its a curiouse thing...

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2009)

As far as directors go, David Fincher ranks among thoses I idolise. His gentle interplay with dark and light, fun and sorrow and most importantly the real and the surreal. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button isn't his greatest movie, his most lavish movie, but not his greatest. What's striking is the way Finchers worst still manages to be better than most director's best attempts. Despite some negative criticisms, Benjamin Button is a beautiful movie, both tender and tremendous. If not overly emotional. It manages to sustain both style and substance where something like "Australia" dropped the ball. Finchers movie is well worth the wait and a certainty at this year's Oscars.
One thing that resonates wonderfully is the chemistry between Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett, reunited after starring together in the 2007 movie "Babel", there characters show development and while there not all going in the same direction you can feel them growing, learning with age, or youth in this case. It takes a world-class storyteller and a great yarn to rivet your attention for nearly three hours. This very classy, old-school movie -- employing cutting-edge technology that will make your eyes pop -- did it for me.
David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's story, re-teams the director with Brad Pitt, who takes on the title role. What makes Button such a curious case is that when he is born in New Orleans just after World War I, he is already in his eighties, and proceeds to live his life aging in reverse. Brad Pitt gives a bravura, Oscar-caliber turn in Fincher's modernist epic yet lyrical tale, which bears resemblance in structure and magical realism to Forrest Gump (both penned by Eric Roth), but without that film's simplistic morality and sentimentality This sweeping film follows the character's unusual life into the 21st century as he experiences joy and sadness, loves lost and found, and the meaning of timelessness. Cate Blanchett co-stars along with Tilda Swinton, Elias Koteas, and Julia Ormond. If there's one thing this films is going to be remembered by its the beautifully subtle yet equally frightening make up effect sued on both Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The creators blended both visual effect with make-up effect to create some of the most awe inspiring visual effect to dat. You believe in these characters because the actors playing them are shown at every stage of their life. Aptly for a film so concerned with time, Button is 13 minutes shy of three hours and just flies by. If this is Fincher selling out, can he sell out more often please? An epic, melancholic romance that employs a multi-generational cast and groundbreaking visual effects. It's a testament to Fincher's skill as a storyteller that the film actually works, albeit sporadically. There may not be the normal, anticipated dosage of sentiment to latch onto in this film, but in exchange for patience and a little faith, Button presents the exquisite weight of the human experience in a manner the screen rarely witnesses.
Verdict: Touching yet never tedious, sensitive yet never overly sentimental. Button balances all of its elements perfectly and while the running time may scare some, the movie flew by in manner of seconds merely due to the charm and charisma of its leads. Tantalizing, touching and timeless - an epic fable revolving around mortality. For my overall rating I give The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 4/5.