An epic love story rich in visuals and insight

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2008)

Rarely does a film like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" tell such a basic human story with such visual prowess. There's not a whole lot of action or imaginative settings, yet director David Fincher makes New Orleans and New York between 1920-1970 feel like a fantasy world of sorts. This is the kind of a film that will likely get a slew of nominations at the Academy Awards and clean up many of them.
"Benjamin Button" is sort of an epic love story, the kind of film that we haven't really seen since "Forrest Gump." At nearly 3 hours long, it gives us the life of Benjamin (Pitt), who physically ages backward from an old man to an infant, while his brain ages like that of a normal person. While the film could be about how his life is different from everyone else, the emphasis is more on how this affects his perspective on aging, dying and the fleeting nature of life, as seen through his love for Daisy (Blanchett) who he meets when they're both children, but she of course ages normally.
The visual rendering of Benjamin as an old man (his younger years) is absolutely astounding and could press some other CGI-loaded films at the Oscars. The make-up as well, which is forced to capture a large span of aging because the film doesn't jump very far ahead in years at any point in time, is incredible.
What is most surprising about "Button" is the cinematography. Between the contrast of light and dark around faces and a couple beautiful sunrise scenes, what is just plain old America has a distinct beauty to it that really captures the epic nature of the story. It's long and really quite slow at times, but it could have been worse without some of the imagery.
The acting was also very impressive. Pitt manages to pull off the concept of looking one way and feeling another. He's particularly strong when he's 20 or so, when his character appears in his late 50s. He gives Benjamin a gentle nature that comes off as mature, though his naiveté in terms of love and loss is apparent. Blanchett is also very strong, proving triple-fold already how talented of an actress she is in any role. Several other supporting roles played by lesser known actors were also impressive, including Queenie, Benjamin's adoptive mother.
Though tedious in length, "Button" is a film that someone of nearly any age can appreciate. Eric Roth's screenplay is genuine in both its comedic and dramatic aspects, though no matter which, always has something to say about aging, death and loss. Ultimately, it manages to say a lot more about how similar Benjamin is to us, though he appears so radically different.