A very overrated Movie - Why has this garnered 13 Oscar nominations???

Rating: 6/10 (24 January 2009)

To call The Curious Case of Benjamin Button a masterpiece (as some people have been doing), has got to be the biggest misnomer of this year. Whilst it's an OK movie, it's by no means the masterpiece many are purporting it to be. I really do take issue with people spuriously calling movies of today masterpieces, especially when such an adjective is unwarranted. So, let's just say that this is a "masterpiece", are we to believe that it's on a par with the likes of "Citizen Kane", "Gone With The Wind" or even "The Godfather"? all of which I would deem to be masterpieces - I think not. The reality is that it doesn't even come close to any of the aforementioned movies, not to mention a myriad of others that I could mention.
The story centres around a boy who is born "under unusual circumstances", in that he is born an old man and as a consequence ages in reverse, thus becoming younger. His father leaves him on the steps of a nursing home, having discovered that his wife (who has died during child birth), has given birth to an abnormal child. A black woman who works at the nursing home adopts him as her own and the story of Benjamin Button takes flight.
I don't know if it was just me, but I couldn't believe the lack of dismay and consternation at how the child was initially received by the residents of the nursing home. One lady commented that "he looks like my ex husband", whilst others looked at the baby as if they'd been shown a newspaper. I found this particular scene highly implausible, because in reality, most people would have run a mile having been shown something so hideous and out of the ordinary.
I have to say whilst I think that Cate Blanchett gives a good performance (as always), I found Brad Pitt's performance extremely pedestrian and lacking gravitas - proving yet again why he'll always be a "movie star" and never a bona-fide actor. I feel an actor such as Johnny Depp or Robert Downey Jr would have added more weight and natural acting ability to the role, but then, they are far superior actors.
Although Mr Pitt has been nominated for an Oscar, he is going to have a mountain to climb if he's to win this accolade, as the performances from Frank Lagella(Frost Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk) and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) are far superior. This is not a bad movie, but I was expecting something far better, considering the acute adulation that this movie has been receiving.
As for the best picture nomination, I think that "Slumdog Millionaire" should win as it is far more compelling and I cared about the characters a lot more. I think it is a far superior and unpretentious picture, whereas "Benjamin Button" is a movie that screams "Give me an Oscar", as opposed to actually deserving one.