Beautiful inside and out

Rating: 10/10 (18 April 2009)

Any movie that's over two and a half hours long is going to be difficult to form an opinion on because there's so much material to consider. In other movies where characters might undergo changes in the course of two weeks or even just an evening, the characters in this movie go through an entire lifetime of trials and tribulations and it has to be compressed into less than three hours. Naturally, this was a complicated film to tackle, and I have to say, director David Fincher managed to pull so much complex material together into a tidy fantasy. Benjamin Button is the story of the title character, Benjamin, who is born under "unusual circumstances." Born as a sickly, old man, Ben ages backwards and gets younger on the outside as he advances in years. His "childhood" is his old age and his brittle bones and frail external appearances isolate him from the rest of the world. Right from the beginning, it seems the wisdom of adulthood and eventual mental depletion will come hand in hand with the outward appearance of a child. It's something never before seen on film, and it's fascinating to watch Benjamin's life progress, ultimately, backwards.
The cinematography itself is gorgeous. The different time periods are presented in such a squeaky-clean manner that the worst actors in the world could be put in front of the camera and the movie would still be beautiful. The thing that makes this story so special is its message and its honest, sincere performances. The acting, which is humble yet moving, makes the movie not only superficially attractive, but also emotionally deep.
The recognizable Brad Pitt everyone knows doesn't appear until over halfway through the film, but his acting has matured so much since his early cinematic adventures that it's hard to believe it's him hobbling around in the beginning. The reason Pitt probably wasn't acknowledged so much for his excellent portrayal is that the character of Benjamin isn't so much a scenery chewer as he is a mild-mannered, regular guy who's trying to make his way in the world. Benjamin is relatively soft-spoken, but Pitt's performance manages to command attention.
Cate Blanchett, in my opinion, was criminally ignored this past award season. Blanchett has proved herself an actor with incredible versatility having played such historical characters as Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth) and even Bob Dylan (I'm Not There). As Benjamin's love interest, Daisy, she dances her way through the film with grace and poise. I'd go so far as to call her performance perfect. The character of Daisy is written as someone who's so remarkably beautiful and sweet that it's hard to believe she's real. I can't imagine anyone playing that part as well as Blanchett did. She's unreal in her surface qualities, but she still makes it possible for the audience to grow attached to Daisy.
The message of Benjamin Button is clear: a lifetime of struggle is worth it if one can obtain true love and just a few moments of bliss. Although Benjamin's life is extraordinary and beyond any of most of our reach, the underlying theme of appreciating life (no matter what the circumstances) is something that audiences will be able to grasp. The movie may leave some a bit depressed and forlorn about the inevitable demise of its two main characters (the final act is not without its heart-wrenching moments) but the purpose of the film is more than just its characters, it's the message that each person should take away from it. Fincher takes on a heavy subject matter and makes it accessible to the average person while simultaneously raising the bar in epic storytelling.
My grade: A-