Warning: This review contains spoilers. Since it’s been a number of years since I wrote a movie review, it’s going to take me some practice not to be so spoilerish. Thanks.

Director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac) is one of my favorite directors. His movies are the epitome of perfection and passion for filmmaking, which seems to be rare in mainstream Hollywood these days. Fincher has the ability to drive the actors in his films to reach down deep and pull out performances that often leave you awed and amazed. He also has the ability to make a good story great with his vision as a director. So, as soon as I saw the teaser trailer (best…trailer…ever) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and realized that Fincher was attached, I was determined to see this film opening day. I was ready to be awed and amazed again.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film centers around the story of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) who is born as an elderly infant (with some of the symptoms of old age) that ages backwards while everyone else ages forward. This theme remains a central plot point throughout the remainder of the film, and it’s relatively easy to figure out the ending. However, it’s all about the journey and life experiences of Benjamin Button, and what an interesting journey it is.

The story of Benjamin Button is told through entries in a diary belonging to Benjamin. As an elderly Daisy (Cate Blanchet) lies in her hospital sickbed, she is near death’s door and asks her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) to read Benjamin’s diary. As Caroline reads the diary, Benjamin’s story is shown in flashback mode in the city of New Orleans (1918 to late 20th century). An explanation is presented to the audience as to why Benjamin may have been born elderly in appearance before the film largely centers on the lives Benjamin encounters. As the film trailer shows, Benjamin’s father leaves him on the doorstep of a home, which happens to be a nursing home for the elderly. This is where Fincher introduces audiences to Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) and Tizzy (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali) who nearly step on a bundled Benjamin (along with $18.00) while leaving the nursing home. Although startled by Benjamin’s elderly appearance, Queenie takes him into the home and into her life, vowing to raise him until he dies (according to a doctor that examines him).

As the film progresses and Benjamin’s extended life continues to be a “miracle,” he meets Daisy for the first time, who is visiting her grandmother at the nursing home where Benjamin lives. As expected, it’s love at first sight for Benjamin when he spots Daisy. However, his burgeoning friendship with Daisy is cut short when Daisy’s grandmother forbids them from seeing or playing with each other. Although Queenie and Tizzy are aware that Benjamin is a special child who just appears elderly in appearance, viewers are left with the impression that Daisy’s grandmother may not know this about Benjamin and that he’s actually closer in age to Daisy.

While Benjamin grows younger in appearance and grows up in terms of age, Fincher plays on Benjamin’s elderly appearance by allowing him to have adult experiences at a young age. These experiences include drinking, bedding prostitutes with a randy hunger and readiness that a younger man would have, and landing his first job on a tugboat for Captain Mike (Jared Harris) – all of which occur while Benjamin is roughly a young teen. I know some reviewers reference the tugboat experiences as Forrest Gump redux (while Forrest works the shrimp boat), but I didn’t notice this while watching the film. I was too busy, along with the audience, laughing at Benjamin’s interactions with Captain Mike. During this period, Benjamin’s real father also reconnects with the son he left to strangers and of course, doesn’t reveal who he is to Benjamin until much later in the film. Although Benjamin interacts sparingly with an older Daisy again, his job as a shipmate eventually takes him away from his life in New Orleans and leads him all around the world.

After Benjamin globetrots, experiences his first real adult love affair (with Elizabeth Abbot played by Tilda Swinton), and experiences gun battles in World War II, he finally returns home to New Orleans. While I enjoyed the previous parts of the film, the real meat of the film is his roller coaster relationship with Daisy. Throughout the film, the audience learns that Daisy grows up to become a successful ballet dancer who is busy living the high-life in New York. Even though Benjamin is ready to advance their friendship into a more meaningful romantic relationship, it’s clear that Daisy is not. She’s young, high off of her success, and too immature to accept the love Benjamin clearly has for her until many, many years later – when they “meet in the middle” in terms of age. Despite their happiness together, age eventually becomes an issue, primarily from Daisy’s side as she grows older in appearance and Benjamin grows younger in appearance. A further complication that’s relatively easy to figure out as you watch the film also occurs, and from that moment, the writing is clearly on the wall on what happens with their relationship. However, I did appreciate how Fincher showed that when you have true love, age does not matter in terms of feeling passion for the one you love. This truth was especially important when a much younger Benjamin shows his desire for an elderly Daisy later in the story.

I must say that Fincher’s uncanny ability to draw great performances from the actors in his films does not disappoint in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Everyone from the major roles played by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett to the supporting roles of Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson, and even Jared Harris are on point. For me, there wasn’t a weak link in terms of acting in this film. I also must give special kudos to Elle Fanning (young Daisy) who shows that her older sister isn’t the only talent in the household. Her ability to nail the Louisiana accent should shame much older actors (mostly American ones) into preparing for films where they must adopt accents. I don’t want to call out any names, but these people know who they are. Standout performances go to Tilda Swinton and Taraji P. Henson. When these two actresses were on screen, they shined, especially Henson (who should get an Academy nod for best supporting actress).

The cinematography, directing, and special effects were also top notch in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I loved the tiny “old projection film” touches to certain scenes, and the use of certain lighting made this film beautiful to look at. The special effects were believable and didn’t come across as “way too CG” in appearance. Sometimes the look of special effects in films snaps me out of believing what I’m seeing, and that didn’t happen with this film.

As perfect as this film was, it had some flaws, albeit minor ones. I felt that the “lightning man” stuff played out several scenes longer than was needed. This was funny the first couple of times but grew a little annoying when the same joke kept being replayed. I also didn’t like the present day setting of Hurricane Katrina and felt this was unnecessary to the movie. I wonder if the Hurricane Katrina references were Brad Pitt’s idea since rebuilding New Orleans is one of his man philanthropic causes. Part of me suspects that it was and that Fincher agreed to set the present day part of the movie in 2005 when Katrina hit. For me, it just didn’t belong, and I could have settled for any generic day and year from the calendar. Additionally, there were a couple of over the top moments (even though this movie is slightly sci-fi in nature). A perfect example is the sinking of a German U-Boat by the tugboat Benjamin served on during the war. Again, these are minor things I didn’t like in an otherwise nearly flawless film.

In a year where I saw more bad movies than good movies in theaters, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a breath of fresh air. Yes, I guess you could say this film gave you some Forrest Gump upon further thought; however, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button primarily reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes at times, which is not a bad reminder by any means. This film was an enjoyable journey that was thoroughly entertaining, breathtaking, funny, and emotional. For me, it definitely passed the “butt shifter” test as I didn’t squirm in my theater seat once, get distracted, or check the time. However, I will say that since The Curious Case of Benjamin Button clocks in at 159 minutes, I advise you to take a bathroom break before the film starts. You won’t want to miss a single frame of this film.

My Rating: A+

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 29th, 2008 at 8:57 pm and is filed under Play, Reviews. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.