Vapid But Not Totally Forgettable

Rating: 6/10 (25 December 2008)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is Oscar bait. But whatever awards may or may not come, it is a film with a clever premise but absent an engaging story. It is a good film with a few great moments and characters. However it is not a great film. This is going to be the first David Fincher movie I will not buy for my personal collection.
Benjamin Button is a bit Titanic and a bit more Forrest Gump as if it were made by Jean Pierre Jeunet. Naturally David Fincher, a Jeunet contemporary and associate, would typically be the best thing for this type of film. Zemeckis was probably a bit too, happy-go-lucky with Forrest Gump, also written by Button scribe Eric Roth, who seems to love overwriting multi- character historical epics. And while the stories are vastly different, there are a multitude of similarities in tone and execution to Jeunet's "A Very Long Engagement." And like that film, Button suffers from the same issues of pacing, redundancy. Also, both films try, often without success to be too clever and end up being much too boring.
One facet of the story that deserves notice above others, are the supporting characters. Sure Pitt and Blanchet are decent. But they are hardly the main attraction. Taraji P. Henson as Benjamin's mother and Jared Harris as the tug boat skipper are clear standouts and deserve recognition for their work.
Benjamin Button is most enjoyable in the first section, when Button is an old man. His early years are by far the most involving and pay-off the gimmicky premise the best. I don't want to reveal too much of the story, because it is one worth seeing in general. Unfortunately the second half of the film fares, by design, more predictably and far less involving. Many attempts at drama such as Benajmin's time with his father fell a bit flat and the humming bird metaphor felt weak and contrived.
I would say my most obvious reaction to this film was that Fincher simply did not seemed very interested in these characters, nothing to invest in their emotions. There are numerous scenes that are filmed very artfully, but never felt more than filling time and empty space. Fincher's camera, and thus his eye, are far more interested in Button when he was young and at his most curious. The later years of love and loss, are endlessly bland and procedural and an ending that seemed more at home in an episode of ER than in an epic love story. The truth is the film had probably ended about 20 minutes earlier and by that time, everyone involved had overstayed their welcome.
So no I would never buy Benjamin Button for my Blu-Ray player. I have been following Fincher ever since Alien3. I found his twisted visual sense to be enjoyable to the last drop. Seven and Fight Club are wondrous in their trickery and The Game and Zodiac are moralistic troves down dark alleys of the mind. Even Panic Room is one of my favorite thrillers because it was full of life and unexpected turns. But with Benjamin button, Fincher has strayed from his flock. We feel every turn before we get there, because of the premise, we know the way to the end and its not much interesting when we get there. Sure its a sad story, but it isn't a very interesting one. And no matter how well the film is made, there is a feeling of disappointment one cannot ignore. There is really no reason to watch this more than once. If you wish to see a deliberate story of love lost and a life unattainable, I point you to Kubrick's timeless Barry Lyndon.
One last thing is on the technical side. Being a photographer, there are some points I will pick at. This is the second time Fincher has used the Viper digital camera system. The film is purposely desaturated, but just like with Zodiac, the digital capture just cannot capture light in a truly luminous manor. Almost every image just looks flat, devoid of snap. And just like Zodiac and some pieces of the Viper-filmed Miami Vice, the images tend to be a tad soft, probably because the Viper cannot resolve the same level of detail of film---yet anyway. So props to Claudio Miranda for his craft, but the equipment still has a ways to go.