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The technical dazzle of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a truly astonishing thing to behold: this story of a man who ages backwards requires Brad Pitt to begin life as a tiny elderly man, then blossom into middle age, and finally, wisely, become young. How director David Fincher--with makeup artists, special-effects wizards, and body doubles--achieves this is one of the main sources of fascination in the early reels of the movie. The premise is loosely borrowed from an F. Scott Fitzgerald story (and bears an even stronger resemblance to Andrew Sean Greer's novel The Confessions of Max Tivoli), with young/old Benjamin growing up in New Orleans, meeting the girl of his dreams (Cate Blanchett), and sharing a few blissful years with her until their different aging agendas send them in opposite directions. The love story takes over the second half of the picture, as Eric Roth's script begins to resemble his work on Forrest Gump. This is too bad, because Benjamin's early life is a wonderfully picaresque journey, especially a set of midnight liaisons with a Russian lady (Tilda Swinton) in an atmospheric hotel. Fincher observes all this with an entomologist's eye, cool and exacting, which keeps the material from getting all gooey. Still, the Hurricane Katrina framing story feels put-on, and the movie lets Benjamin slide offscreen during its later stages--curious indeed.--Robert Horton
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Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
"This is the picture of Old Man Kangaroo...",
By
This review is from: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)
At the close of WWI, a baby is born with a decrepit, aged body. His horrified father abandons him and little Benjamin grows up - and grows younger - in the boarding house of his loving foster mother. Over the next 85 years, he experiences life and love and grief, all while continuing to grow younger.I liked this movie and thought it was very well made. It's long and meanders slowly through Benjamin's life, which is really pretty much like anyone else's life except that he was born old and then gets younger - a stretch of the imagination, but the aging is so well done that I could accept it. The episodic nature of the film made it seem like one of those movie trailers that shows a peek at an exciting scene then fades to black, shows another bit of excitement and fades to black, and it went on like that for 160 minutes. Since Brad Pitt's make-up is so convincing at many stages of life, I really only felt like it was him in one or two short vignettes when he appeared as his actual age (and then he was so handsome!). He gives a very touching and understated performance. Cate Blanchett plays the young girl who meets him when he's old; their paths cross often over the years and they both meet in the middle at one point. She's very good and also ages convincingly to her eighties. The movie is a bit like "Forrest Gump" in that it shows America changing during one naive and vulnerable man's life. The theme is love enduring over the years and the inevitable losses we all face; I sobbed several times. It's a very thoughtful and gentle movie. Highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Reasonable Facsimile,
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Single-Disc English/French-Language Version) (DVD)
While this movie, for the purists in our midst, probably doesn't do justice to the original story - they rarely do - it does succeed in making the point that drove Fitzgerald to write the story in the first place. As a fantasy, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" speaks to the terrible insecurity he felt in his life being trapped in a loveless, sottish marriage to the mentally-deranged Zelda. This movie captures that elusive essence of believing that somewhere out there in fantasyland there is a chance that circumstances will conspire to give you another chance of getting it right. Like "Forest Gump" before it, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is one such fairy tale that lends itself well to a Hollywood script where certain liberties can be taken in modernizing the story. With a little cinematic magic, a lot that is seemingly cruel and wrong in this old world gets put right in a way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. The storyline is creative, the characters interact well, and there are some good one-liners. I was also taken with the notion that this production subtly promotes the notion that callow, immature men often seek the embrace of older women who remind them of their mothers. Overall, a pleasure to watch.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: What an amazing film!,
By
This review is from: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Single-Disc English/French-Language Version) (DVD)
When I first heard about this movie it seemed interesting. Being old and being a baby are so similar in so many ways that I never really noticed until I saw this movie. The acting was amazing, Brad Pitts performance of his career (next to Job Blakc). Cate Blanchett did another amazing acting job (see her in the Elizabeth movies and you will love her!) The story line and the histroy the can be seen unfolded in the movie was great too. And this one part where they show how every little thing is connected in some way was amazing! One of the number of best moments of the film. Yes it seemed a bit long and dragged a little but over all its one of my new favorites. A great message in it about love, living and even when faced with age and even youth you can make dreams happen.
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