Curious Indeed

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2009)

I first saw the trailer for this some months ago and,without knowing much more about this other than the fact that Brad Pitt was playing a man who was aging backward(that and the fact that the trailer curiously DIDN'T have a studio identification mark at the beginning of it),I found myself,ahem,intrigued. Curious,if you will.
Months later,and with the critical and overall audience positive vibe,I decided I'd invest in this. An entertainment reporter on NBC,shortly before the Golden Globes,referred to this movie as a "Romantic film",but I think that description is a little more than a tad oversimplified. This is a grand,sci-fi/fantasy/adventure/romance/tall tale that only really suffers from its own ambition.
The movie's plot is really not secret,so I'll instead reveal some differences from the Scott Rudin-Robin Swicord penned screenplay and the original F.Scott Fitzgerald short story: Benjamin(Pitt,as much a credit to this role as the brilliant make-up job done to show the progression,or rather de-progression,of time)is in the movie born at the end of World War I(November,1918),whereas in the story he is born a year before the American Civil War(1860); he is born to rich MAryland or Virginia natives in the story,whereas he is clearly a product of a mixed relationship marriage in New Orleans;and while the lady love of his life is a bright,talented dancer named Daisy(Cate Blanchett,ages beautifully,inside and out)in a clear allusion to the one of the more remembered works by the famous author,her name is something more like Hildegard. Those things,added to the exquisite detail and artistic embellishment of director David Fincher,make this movie is a vision. While I was,I must confess,somewhat put off by the romantic elements of the movie,I could basically take it in stride as being something that overall enriches Benjamin's life story.
The nearly three hour running time of CCoBB may put off perspective viewers of this movie(among other things),but it shouldn't. The narrative is so rich and fluid that it only feels like a lot of time running once you disengage in watching. If this show puts one in mind of other "tall adventure" tales on the big screen like Forrest Gump or BIg Fish,that's no mistake:co-writer Rudin also penned Gump.
A strong,if perhaps over-stuffed,offering to the large screen which is probably best viewed there.