The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

(2008)

Directed by

David Fincher

Review by Terry Plucknett

David Fincher films have become events in some circles after such groundbreaking films as Fight Club, Se7en, The Game, and Zodiac.  However, this time Fincher steps out of the crime drama genre and produces his biggest, grandest, and possibly his best film to date.

A good way to describe this film would be Forrest Gump meets The English Patient.  The movie starts out much like The English Patient as a woman lays on her death bed in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina a day or two away.  As she lies there, she asks her daughter to read to her a memoir that was in her suitcase.  This memoir was written by a Benjamin Button, played by Brad Pitt in what could be considered his best performance.  Benjamin Button is born under very peculiar circumstances in that his body has aged like an 80 year old man when he is just a newborn.  His skin is wrinkled, he has terrible arthritis, and he has no hair.  The doctors think he was born on his death bed.  However, it turns out Benjamin is simply aging in reverse.  The older he gets, the younger his body gets.  After his mother died in child birth, and his father gives him up, he is raised by a young Black woman (Taraji P. Henson) that helps run a nursing home.  When Benjamin was a young “boy,” he fit right in with the elderly residents of the nursing home.  As he grew older/younger, he became more independent and started doing things on his own.  When he was a teenager (looking like he was in his 60’s or 70’s), he got a job working on a tug boat.  This job took him around the world and thrust him into World War II.  Returning from this, he meets up with his childhood friend Daisy, played as a little girl by Elle Fanning, an adolescent by Madisen Beaty, and an adult by Cate Blanchett.  A connection is there, but the timing is never right until they meet in the middle when they have both aged the same.  This is when the movie goes from the adventures of Benjamin Button to a heart-warming love story between these two lead characters that takes you on a ride through a variety of emotions.

The performances in this film are superb.  These deep, rich characters are brought to life beautifully by the actors who embody them.  Pitt is sensational and once again shows his natural chemistry with Blanchett, as they did in 2006’s Babel.  It is easy to forget how good Cate Blanchett can be simply because she gives career-defining performance every time she appears in a movie.  This is no exception as she once again shows that she can do anything.  A scene stealer in this film is Taraji P. Henson who shines every minute she is on screen.  A whole cast of characters Benjamin Button encounters on his journeys, including Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton and Jared Harris as the tugboat captain, provide memorable characters that add to the film’s charm.

The story of the film starts out almost identical to Forrest Gump, which was also written by Eric Roth.  A simple minded boy, influenced greatly by his mother, goes on radical adventures, and meets an array of memorable characters along the way.  His life-long love is never in a place where they can be together until later in life.  The parallels are astounding.  However, when comparing the two movies, Forrest Gump outshines The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in almost every aspect.  The main character is stronger, the supporting characters are more memorable.  Not saying that these aspects are no good, they just do not match up to the brilliance of Forrest Gump which it parallels.  The only aspect where Benjamin Button stands out when compared to Gump is the telling of the love story, which is also where this story differs from Gump.  The love story is where Benjamin Button shines brightest.  This is where the film becomes a masterpiece as it puts you through every emotion.  If I say anymore, I’ll give away the ending, which I don’t want to do.

This beautiful film is an adventure from start to finish that leaves you with a memorable movie-going experience.

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