Very interesting and visually superb, but with flawed storytelling

Rating: 7/10 (23 February 2014)

David Fincher isn't someone who directs stereotypical films. Thus, this biography of a man, told to his former love interest on her deathbed, is more than just that, the twist being that the man ages backwards: he's born an old man and dies an infant, perplexing everyone around him. This story, the fact that the source novel was written by no one less than F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a budget of $150 million endow a director with gigantic possibilities and, thankfully, Fincher utilises most of them in the making of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The visual feats he and his crew have achieved were deservedly awarded with three Academy Awards and I have to say that I cannot remember a film showing the process of aging more realistically than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button does. On top of that, Fincher and his cinematographer Claudio Miranda create a picturesque recreation of past times and distant places. However, the most important part about filmmaking remains the story and the telling of it, and in this aspect, I wasn't always content with what I got to see. Telling a lifetime- spanning story within the limits of one motion picture is a precarious endeavour and rarely ever do directors succeed with it – Fincher's attempt at it is no exception. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button suffers from an odd narration, switching from an interesting character having the time of his life to a woman on her deathbed, an overly long running time, inevitably making the film boring, and many a poor taste in deciding which scenes to keep and which to cut out.
Be that as it may, the film still offers an exciting look at life and is easily Fincher's most beautiful production. The characters are rich and the actors are a joy to watch while playing them, no matter if it's in romantic, sad, humorous, or adventurous scenes, all of which The Curious Case of Benjamin Button includes. It's a great story, and proof that David Fincher can do more than just the violent thrillers he's become famous for.