Good, but way over-hyped

Rating: 7/10 (28 December 2008)

Yes, Benjamin Button is a good film and a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. It looks beautiful, sounds beautiful but we must all be really starved of good film-making if this movie gets people waxing lyrical. It's a great high concept idea, but what do the film-makers get really out of that besides the "life is unpredictable... you never know when change is gonna come" theme that permeates the movie. Well, dah, there's nothing that profound about that. Also, while Brad Pitt is gorgeous to look at, and a very likable movie star, his performance somehow left me a little cold - it doesn't hit any deep emotional chords, and while you could praise him for being subtle, he just doesn't have the everyman quality, that sense of human anguish anyone can relate to, that someone like Will Smith does. I wish he would just let go a little more like he did in Babel, and really show us the man behind the beautiful veil. David Fincher got gritty and great in Zodiac, but he gives in to style a little too much in Benjamin button - too many beautiful shots of Brad Pitt on motorbikes with sunglasses on, in front of a magnificent sunset. I wanted the whole movie to feel more real. Don't get taken in by the hype, Oscar voters!