The Curious Case of an Oddly Unappealing Film

Rating: 3/10 (4 January 2012)

David Fincher has made some of the most interesting films of the last two decades, including SE7EN and FIGHT CLUB, both favourites of mine. The last film of his I saw was the overlong but engaging ZODIAC, so I sat down for another epic-length feature film and hoped for genuine quality. Like so many Hollywood films, BENJAMIN BUTTON looks amazing. The technical aspects are top dollar and Fincher's direction is difficult to criticise on a superficial level. Why is watching it, then, such a hollow experience? The reason is down to the story, which starts off with an interesting premise and does nothing with it. Button is a guy who ages in reverse, but nothing is made of his condition. He doesn't live his life any differently, he doesn't become a medical anomaly, barely anyone passes comment on it at all. Why is it even part of the film? I almost feel like a screenplay was written around a totally uninteresting character, then, realising the lack of depth, the writer decided 'oh, I'll have him age in reverse' in an attempt to make things more interesting.
Button turns out to be a singularly unappealing guy, one to whom adultery is a way of life, a guy who refuses to engage with the world he lives in and who shirks responsibility at every stage. Pitt plays him the best he can, but even he can't make the guy likable. You end up watching just to find out the next stage of the admittedly impressive SFX work used to both age him and make him younger.
Elsewhere, Fincher casts two of the coldest female actresses I can think of: Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton. I can't think of a single film in which either displays any kind of warmth, and there's none on offer here. Don't go looking for chemistry, either, as you won't find it. Combined with Fincher's clinical and detached approach, this is a yawn-inducing, uneventful, non-dramatic exercise in tedium and a massive missed opportunity.