Film review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Article published: Thursday, March 12th 2009
The average filmgoer could be forgiven for expecting thrills, chills, suspense, action, conflicts and resolutions packed into every second of the two and a half hours that make up The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, nominated for no less than thirteen Oscars. But unfortunately, while Brad Pitt’s face ages like vintage French wine, opinions on whether Benjamin Button actually deserves any accolade may sour to a similar state as the wrinkly foetus which greets us at the beginning of this story.
For those of you unfamiliar with this case, Benjamin Button is a fictional baby born in New Orleans at the tail end of the First World War. The curiousness is that, instead of encountering more traditional ageing patterns, Benjamin is born with the fragility of a man 80 years his senior, and gradually grows younger. While slowly reverting back to his embryonic state, Benjamin encounters love, loss and many other trials and tribulations you would expect of such an unusual protagonist.
Expectations for Benjamin Button are heightened by the presence of some notable Hollywood reunions. Brad Pitt, who plays the rejuvenating Benjamin teams up with director David Fincher, his partner in crime for the much darker Fight Club and Se7en. Pitt also reunites with Cate Blanchett, with whom he paired up with to play another couple facing hardship in the international drama Babel.
While Benjamin Button is by no means worthy of the praise being thrown at it, it isnt a bad film. Musings such as Your life is defined by its opportunities, even the ones you miss, spoken in Benjamins southern drawl, do strike a few chords, enhanced as they are by the fact he grows younger as he says them. Indeed, Button seems awash with similar philosophising from many of the major characters.
Credit must go to both Pitt and Blanchett, who portray Benjamin and the love of his life Daisy impeccably, managing to remove any sense of absurdity from, what could only be described as a truly far-fetched set of circumstances. Glimpses of Finchers directing skill also make their mark from time to time, notably when a silhouetted Daisy runs through ballet steps on a brilliantly lit band stand.
But in the end Benjamin Button is a victim of its own success. The Academy Award nominations and lavish reviews that sweep across posters and television adverts alike raise expectations to unreachable heights. And while Button offers many a heart-warming moment or poignant quote, it simply cannot live up to such colossal billing.
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