Genre: Romance, DramaDirector: David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond
Running Time: 167 minutes (plus trailers)
Based on the premise of a short story by Scott F. Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is film about a man “born under unusual circumstances.” Born as an old man, Benjamin (played by Brad Pitt) ages backwards, growing up in a nursing home into a middle aged man, and then eventually a child. Directed by possibly my favourite director, the movie is one of the most hyped of the year, has received enormous critical acclaim and will probably get Oscar nominations for Best Actor, Actress, Director, Picture, Costumes and more. I saw this film twice on opening weekend (it was free) and both times the theatre was packed, so the box office prospects for this film are also very good. I loved this movie the first time, but wasn’t quite so crazy about it the second. Its main problem is definitely the overall story, which is almost a carbon copy of Forest Gump. Set on a backdrop of famous events in American history, the film follows one mans journey to find himself. Weaving through the film is a recurring love interest, as well as a group of quirky supporting characters. I suppose the similarities aren’t that surprising, given that Eric Roth, the screenwriter behind this film, was also behind Gump. This is definitely better, but it also has many of the same problems, although they are generally masked by the brilliant direction and moving performances.
The first time I saw Ben Button I was amazed at the films beauty. Spanning for than 60 years of American history, the costume and production design teams clearly went to enormous efforts to get everything looking as authentic as possible. The makeup, presumably a mixture of practical and CGI that allows characters to age decades, is mind-blowing, with Pitt and Blanchett looking like their 80 year old selves. Even the studio logos that open the film are done in a way that is pretty and memorable. Fans of David Fincher’s earlier films such as Se7en, Panic Room or Fight Club (let’s not mention Alien 3) will notice that his weird dark erratic style is mostly absent from Ben Button; along with 2007’s Zodiac this is by far his most subdued and mature piece of work. This is not a criticism; each shot feels carefully planned and certain scenes such as the opening vignette or the Paris sequence (which explores the idea of fate versus chance) demonstrates more than anything the genius of one of Hollywood’s best directors. All of the supporting actors are great, especially Taraji P. Henson as Benjamin’s adopted mother, and Cate Blanchett as love interest Daisy. But it is the performance by Pitt that will leave a lasting impression on the audience. His strong Louisiana accent that is present throughout the narration again reminded me in an irritating way of Forest Gump, but even so, the way in which he portrays a man who has no control over his circumstances is quite incredible. If you think about it, it was also a brave role for him to take; the man generally considered to be the worlds most desirably male spends half the film wrinkly and grey haired. This is a film that kept me captivating until the very last amazing shot. At least, it did the first time.
The second time I saw it, I was far less impressed. I usually appreciate films more the second time around, but with Benjamin Button, the flaws of the film became far more apparent. While Pitt’s performance and Fincher’s direction still stood out as big highlights, I also noticed something else: This movie is really really really long. While this is not in itself a problem, it does become irritating when at least an hour could have very easily been cut out. Much like Forrest Gump, this movie is essentially a series of short stories set during the course of the eponymous characters life, and many of these stories had no real bearing on the plot. For example, the twenty minute story set in Russia involving Tilda Swinton’s character, while fairly interesting, was totally unnecessary. There are widely publicised stories about how Fincher refused to allow the studio executives to cut the film’s running time, and while I am usually against studio intervention, in this case it probably would have been wise. I also noticed just how sappy this film was, with a lot of the supposedly dramatic moments based on less than convincing events.
I don’t want to come down to hard on the film. It is certainly worth seeing, and is one of my favourite movies of the year. But as well made as the film is, it lacks in story, and is far too long. The good news is that unlike Zodiac (which was brilliant, although also suffered from similar length problems) this movie is receiving a lot of attention from both critics and audiences, which is certainly does deserve.
