The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2008 "Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments."
7.8| PG-13| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 25 December 2008
Producted By: Paramount
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Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http//www.benjaminbutton.com/
Synopsis

I was born under unusual circumstances. And so begins. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans, from the end of World War I in 1918 into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man's life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, Benjamin Button, is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.

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Reviews

VividSimon Simply Perfect
Beanbioca As Good As It Gets
Cleveronix A different way of telling a story
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
ubcdomyat You will be distributed all the movie??is it realistic or fictional??? But you will insist on finishing it,,,one of the best movies
coledarcysoderstrom Some look at this as one of the lesser Fincher films. I personally think it's one of the best. Sure it's not better than "Fight Club" and "Se7en" too films I strongly recommend if you haven't already seen them, but in my opinion it's better than all his other films. Yes even "The Social Network." It's beautiful in its simplicity and is a film about life, and it's better at being a film about life than "Boyhood." Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett give fantastic performances and the soundtrack is great. Fincher even throws some Beatles in there which I appreciate. Is almost a 3 hour movie which I usually look at as a flaw but similar to "Lord of the Rings" it flys buy and you want to watch it a second time. Definitely a must see!
ModishPictures The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is David Fincher's longest film (and it certainly feels like it), and shows his best skills as a director, but his weaknesses in adapting the screenplay. Like my previous issue with Fight Club, I loved the direction, but felt that the film was poorly adapted from the original novel/screenplay. The story of Benjamin Button's life is a great, intriguing concept for a film, and it definitely has its high points, but it also isn't quite enough to carry a nearly three-hour film. Where the film could have benefited from adding more depth to existing characters, some additional event or unnecessary character is introduced just to give viewers the impression that it feels more like a lifetime than a man's emotional and physical journey. Screenwriter Eric Roth basically transcribes the formula of his greatest work, Forrest Gump, and adapts it to Benjamin Button's curious case. It has many moments that feel inspired by Forrest Gump, and many moments that try too hard to be just like Forrest Gump. Your enjoyment of the film will depend on your enjoyment of certain parts of the story. While I enjoyed the serious, emotional moments of the characters and their emotional reactions to Benjamin's condition, other viewers may be more interested in the contrived events of his life, akin to Forrest Gump's successes, meant to prolong his journey.Another exceptional aspect of this film is the makeup and the performances. Brad Pitt may not be doing very much work, but the makeup artists have a hell of a job to do and they deliver flawlessly. Benjamin Button looks and feels complex as a result of the excellent makeup and body acting done on him. Cate Blanchett also does a great job portraying Daisy, Benjamin's lifelong love, and reacts to the situation she finds herself in realistically and emotionally. Depth is added in places you would expect, but it is lacking in places you would expect it to be. Also very pleasing and smart on Fincher's part was the ending which satisfyingly ties the film together and concludes many of the loose ends. If only the film tried less to be like Forrest Gump in reverse, the characters would have felt more realistic and the emotional payoff more earned. Even with the screenplay's faults, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has a better overall effect on the viewer than the individual scenes do. Great cinematography, direction, makeup, and performances elevate a unique, intriguing concept with a lacking screenplay to make it one of Fincher's more emotional works, but also one of his less memorable.3.5/5 stars
classicsoncall I think this film works as an example of how ordinary human beings can do extraordinary things when they have a desire to overcome their limitations and seek out a greater world outside themselves. The story is a uniquely creative and original one, told from the perspective of one principal character aging normally, and the other regressing after having been born 'an old man'. Their lives 'intersect' at the age of forty three, at which point Benjamin (Brad Pitt) begins coming to grips with the idea that he and Daisy (Cate Blanchett) are ultimately destined to live out their lives in separate ways. I do have a problem though with the timing of Benjamin's departure. The movie did a terrific job of restoring him back to a youthful looking young man over time, and it seemed to me that he could have enjoyed at least a decade with his daughter before heading off to parts unknown. His admonition that he didn't want to be her 'playmate' seemed hollow when Caroline was just a small child and he was still in his thirties. So that part of the story I think could have been handled a bit better. But otherwise, I thought this was a cleverly written story that also managed to reflect warmly on the racial component of having Benjamin raised by a black woman (Taraji P. Henson) who he considered his Mama. Interjecting the story with those humorous moments of the seven times lightning man was also quite brilliant, lending some welcome comic relief moments to a story that tended to get somber at times.