David Fincher: The best of the ex-music video directors

Rating: 7/10 (23 December 2010)

Technically, 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is stunning. Everything falls neatly into place, sweeping the viewer up on a wave of pure movie magic. The special visual effects are amazing: Benjamin (Brad Pitt) is born old and shrunken, wrinkled and withered, and over the course of the lengthy narrative becomes young and chiseled. Director David Fincher proved that he could handle the epic with his serial killer thriller 'Zodiac', a film which, like 'Button', is close to three hours in length. Neither film seems to drag; the pacing in each case is measured and deliberate.
It is great to see Julia Ormond again (in the role of Caroline), after an absence from our screens of several years. She is as beautiful and as talented as ever. Fincher's muse, Brad Pitt (this is their third film together) handles the material well and delivers a mature and well-rounded performance. His passage from old to young reminded me of the mini-series 'Stephen King's Golden Years', but 'Button' is far, far superior to that. If you would like to see what Fincher referred to as the 'Holy Grail of visual effects', here is your chance.