Brilliant, touching and uplifting, an adventure in living life

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2009)

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button so I went in with little to no expectations. I just knew I wanted to see it. This film certainly won't be for everyone. First of all anyone expecting to see some sort of slick adventure or action or even a typical Brad Pitt vehicle will be disappointed. The film clocks in at nearly three hours and is very slow paced but the sheer intelligence of the film is mind blowing. It is such a beautiful piece of art that brings tears to your eyes making you contemplate life and death and everything about it. Maybe it just hit home for me I don't know but it was just a beautiful story. Essentially nothing of any major interest happens during the lengthy life story of Benjamin Button but the entire schtick to the story is that Button is aging backwards. He is born as an outcast, a crippled, shriveled old man who ironically is raised in a New Orleans Old Age Home. If anything you are held to the screen by sheer curiosity of watching this boy grow backwards. Hence what truly makes this a curious case. This film is a combination of a lot of different flavors YES it also includes a touch of Forrest Gump (also written by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button writer co-writer Eric Roth), Dickens' Great Expectations, with an F. Scott Fitzgerald flare (the author whose short story inspired the film.)
Brad Pitt is a huge movie star but there is no doubt that he also has some really incredible acting ability proved earlier in his career with incredible roles in Se7en and 12 Monkeys. His performance as Benjamin is subtly brilliant. It doesn't really take your breath away but rather endears you to him over a course of time. The use of Pitt in the CGI scenes was disturbing and well done all at once. Cate Blanchett who I am NOT a fan of is actually decent as the love of Button's life Daisy. They don't exactly have outstanding chemistry but somehow they manage to pull it off. The supporting cast is terrific but they really pale to the performance by Pitt. Julia Ormond does a good job in a small role but she has very intense aura about her. Jason Flemyng does a terrific job as Button's father and Taraji P. Henson is brilliant as Pitt's adopted mother who runs an old age home.
I'm actually very impressed that director David Fincher pulled this film off. It is a very ambitious film and although it certainly isn't for everyone Fincher pulls off this fantasy epic very well. fincher's past is critically acclaimed and he has a lot of fans from Fight Club (a movie I didn't care for at all), and Zodiac which was ambitious but missing so much to it. He did however create the brilliance of Se7en and The Game so perhaps he does have some talent to speak of. If you are willing to watch an epic about a man and his entire life and really see the film for it's true message then you will truly enjoy this film. 9/10