"Curious" Why This Film is So Long

Rating: 5/10 (19 January 2009)

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" had great performances from Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and the rest of the ensemble. Kudos to the sets, the make-up, and the spectacular special effects. The film was original, inspired, and contained brilliant symbolism on both the ominous presence of the ticking clocks of our lives, and on the people who guide us along our twisted paths. Yet, all of these spectacular variables do not create harmony in "Benjamin Button" for one reason that continues to deflate films in these modern times: its length. This movie is way too long. Some have said that the greatest art is created in the editing process. In some films, I believe this to be true. Yet, it is hard to test that hypothesis for "Benjamin Button" because it seems not to have had an editing process at all. I was captivated by the film initially, but once I hit the two hour mark, I was checking my watch. This was not a two hour and forty five minute story in the slightest. The film does not feel short, it does not feel crisp, and it does not feel succinct. It feels really, really long. And "long" is the only word now that I can use to describe it. Walking out of the theater, I have forgotten the performance, the sets, the symbols. All I can think of is "whose ego trip decided to make this film so lengthy?" If anything, "Benjamin Button" is worth watching for the performances, and its scenic beauty. If you must see it, definitely rent it. This way you can turn it off when its length becomes unbearable, or perhaps you can watch it in installments like the painful miniseries that it is.