In an ambitious, philosophical tale, Brad Pitt experiences life aging backwards!

Rating: 7/10 (20 July 2010)

Based on a popular short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the film tells the story of a man, who is born old and ages backwards, struggling to find a place in a society, which is afraid of the unusual and the unknown. Being Fincher's most expensive project to date, with a budget of $160 Million, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is somewhat of a fairy tale and a historic epic, that takes place in the 20th century, and in the end, has a bit too much ambition for its own good.
On the night the Great War finally ends, Benjamin Button is born in New Orleans, under "unusual circumstances". Thomas Button is confronted with the exact meaning of these words, when he finds out that his wife died in childbirth and that his child looks like the miniature version of an old man on his death bed. Desperate, he takes the child from his home and drops it on the stairs of a nursery home, where two young employees find it and decide to adopt it, despite its physical abnormalities. Although they expect the child, named Benjamin, to die soon, he starts to grow and to everyone's astonishment younger. After a couple of years, he meets Daisy, a curious girl, who immediately feels a certain affection for Benjamin although they couldn't be more different in their looks. Growing up in the nursery home, Benjamin frequently encounters death, as its takes one after another guest of the home, and eventually he decides to leave and go to sea on the tugboat of Captain Mike. Initially reluctant to take the old man on board, Mike is soon surprised by Benjamin's strong will and youthful spirit, and him and his crew travel all around the world eventually ending up in Russia. There Benjamin meets Elizabeth Abbot, who vegetates in an unhappy marriage and starts an affair with Benjamin, who eventually realizes that his true love, Daisy, is far home where he should be. But he questions himself whether a relationship is even possible, when two people age in different direction, and while one of them grows older the other one gets younger.
Watching this film like going through the photo album of a stranger, who evidently had a fascinating life, but we only get glimpses into it without any explanations of what lead to the situations. The film feels like a set of pictures, that was failed to put together properly to create a compact narrative. For the first hour, by far my favorite part of this film, from his early days in New Orleans to his career on the tugboat, I was really interested in the storyline and the strange character of Benjamin. But, as soon as he comes home from the war, the story begins to fall apart, and makes several jumps from one time period to another, without ever really going into them. New Orleans looks wonderfully nostalgic though and the scenes convey a unique atmosphere that make out the magic of this film. What it lacks in story development, the film makes up with an unreachable timelessness. Being filled with motifs of death, war, and loss, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a highly melancholy film that has few happy moments and therefore becomes more of a historic drama, than a fantasy epic. It's highly philosophical, with Benjamin Button narrating quite a bit of the plot, and inserting his unique views on the world and its people.
As I mentioned previously, the inspiration for the movie was a 32 page short story. So, with the running time of the film just falling short of three hours, I felt that the plot was stretched out too far, and all in all the film is about 30 minutes too long. It's sad, because the story is really one of importance, and it would be a shame for it to get lost to some of the viewers. It's a complex movie, and one that requires a clear mind and attention. Some of the little things in the film really stood out for me, like the introduction story of the blind man, who creates a clock in memory of his fallen son, a shocking and unexpected hook to the story. But, while the film has some humorous elements, like an old man, who had some trouble during his life going out during thunderstorms, it is mostly very depressing, quiet and sad. While comparisons to the films "Forrest Gump", and especially "Big Fish" are almost bound to happen, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" doesn't quite have the passion and the energy of the other two films.
Benjamin Button is played by Brad Pitt, who more than deserved his Oscar nomination for a role that is unusually quiet and philosophical for him. While by no means a bad actor in his other projects, he usually tends to be a bit of the winking "funny guy", rather than the introverted outsider. His performance is striking, yet subtle, and it's especially his expressions and the tone of his voice that make his character so intriguing. Cate Blanchett adds another stunning performance to her long resumee of top-notch character performances. While not quite as mesmerizing as Pitt, she has this captivating aura, that makes her an intense presence on screen. Taraji P. Henson is excellent and proves her undeniable talent for dramatic roles. Tilda Swinton plays Benjamin's first true love in the cold Russia, and while her role is almost a cameo, her chemistry with Pitt is astounding.
The film has a lot going for itself, including the acting, the effects, the nostalgic settings, and the philosophical message that balanced some of the saddest themes of life so well, that it really made me think for many days. But in the end, I keep thinking back to the metaphorical photo album I described earlier and I just have to say the movie is not the masterpiece it should have been.