A different turn for Fincher

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2008)

As an aspiring filmmaker I love that a director who normally deals with violence and scum of the streets changes his tone completely to test himself. I am not sure if Fincher is the best at this story because he doesn't want to be too sappy, but he certainly isn't bad at it because he gets cinema. Now, maybe Spielberg or Zemeckis are better at this kind of story, but who cares, this is a great escapist film and the best technical achievement of the decade next too Pan's Labirynth and The Lord of The Rings series. The film doesn't stick with you as well as something like Forrest Gump, which you can't help but compare it too because they are very similar, mostly b/c they are from the same writer; If you don't know who that is then you're an idiot. I loved watching this film and the nearly three hours felt like an hour and a half. All the performances are good, and may deserve Oscar nominations, but should not win, because the technology of the film helps there performances a lot and also because in every acting category there is at least one, two, three, or four performances that were better. I think Pitt can be very good, especially with Fincher, I love Cate Blanchett, and Taraji P. Henson is awesome here. I wanted too think this was a completely great film, but I couldn't for some reason. I had problems with the film. I did not like the narrative of the story being told during Katrina from the daughter of Button(Pitt) and Daisy(Blanchett). After the film I realized it was contrived and unnecessary, even though I really liked the hummingbird at the end. Instead what they could've done is just show the hummingbird during the rain right after Button is dying. Also, I would have liked for some of the people to be a little angrier, everything was a little too melancholy and even silly, silly might be too strong but you know what I mean. I loved the Tilda Swinton chunk of the film and I especially loved the part of the film where Daisy and Button meet in the middle. The themes are strong, and the story is strong, but they are not as strong as the technique; that's why this is not the best film of the year. I made a top ten list of the year, like I do every year because I'm weird, and this ended up being 8th on my list(In Order: Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, The Dark Knight, The Wrestler, Synechdoche, Rachel Getting Married, 4 Months 3 weeks & 2 Days, and then The Curious Case)because of the lack of emotions after the film and the flaws in story telling. Not Forrest Gump or the best film of the year, but it's not that far behind and technically it probably is a greater achievement. Look out for Fincher to win Best Director at the Oscars this year.