The curiously compelling case of Benjamin Button

Rating: 8/10 (29 December 2009)

Benjamin Button was born under unusual circumstances. He was born old, a baby with the wrinkly appearance and multiple maladies of an elderly man. As everyone around him grows older it is Benjamin's fate to grow younger. Backwards Benjamin goes, from that wrinkly baby to a child confined by "old age" to a wheelchair to an older-looking Brad Pitt. And then to just plain Brad Pitt and then a younger-looking Brad Pitt and...well, you get the point. Curious indeed. And this exceptionally curious life's journey is captured brilliantly. Pitt's performance in this incredibly challenging role is terrific. Obviously in this kind of story special effects and makeup are going to be critically important. If the effects fail the movie is doomed to fail. That proves to be no concern as this is one movie in which the special effects are special indeed. As Benjamin lives his life in reverse the whole thing actually seems plausible and believable. It looks real and for that the effects and makeup teams cannot receive enough praise. For as good as everything looks though the film still has to grab you emotionally to really work. The viewer has to really buy in to this story and director David Fincher crafts his tale in such a way that one can't help but become emotionally invested in the curious life's saga of Benjamin Button.
At its heart this is a love story. Now how exactly, and with whom exactly, could a man like Benjamin Button fall in love? How is it possible for this man to share his life with anyone? The answer comes in the person of Daisy, a young girl whom Benjamin meets during his childhood. Of course during his "childhood" Benjamin is by all appearances about 70 years old. But Benjamin and Daisy have an instant, if rather odd, connection. Nobody seems to really understand Benjamin. Somehow though young Daisy seems to get it. And their bond remains strong as Daisy grows older and Benjamin grows younger. The young girl growing older, the old man growing younger, destined to meet in the middle. It may be the most unusual love story you'll ever see but the love between these two is very real and incredibly heartfelt. It's a powerful, compelling and rather beautiful story which is always tinged with a hint of melancholy. Because when Benjamin and Daisy do eventually meet in the middle the unspoken truth is that they remain two ships passing in the night, headed in opposite directions. This really cannot end well can it? We shall see.
This is a movie unlike anything else you'll ever see. Well, most anything else as many Forrest Gump parallels are obvious. But while that comparison does work somewhat the fact is Benjamin Button is an incredibly unique film. If this story fell into the wrong hands we could have been left with a film which was an absolute mess. But director Fincher steers this production beautifully. In so many ways it is an incredibly challenging story to tell and you get the sense not many people could have really pulled it off. Fincher does it wonderfully, helped immeasurably of course by Benjamin himself in the person of Pitt. What a long, strange character arc Benjamin has and Pitt is spot-on every step of the way. Having a wonderful actress in Cate Blanchett to play off of certainly doesn't hurt Pitt's cause. Blanchett's portrayal of Daisy is, as you would expect, magnificent. So many other characters float in and out of Benjamin's life and a terrific ensemble cast brings each and every person to wonderfully vibrant life. Such a large group of performers and it seems there is not one casting misstep. Credit again to Fincher for drawing out amazing performances from so many people. Maybe the film is a tad bit long but it's hard to say which scenes you could really do without. Benjamin Button led an amazing life and you can't help but want to see as much of it as possible. All in all it's a film which is a magnificent technical achievement but more importantly it's a wonderful story. And that story is told beautifully in what proves to be a thoroughly enjoyable and heartwarming film.