Director: David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett & Jason Fleming
While not David Fincher’s finest film, in spite of its Oscar nominations, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is still a very rewarding drama and featuring much of Fincher’s visual inventiveness.
It might seem, on the surface, that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has much in common with other films that have been awarded critical accolades; Beginning with an aged Cate Blanchett on her deathbed while the story of her relationship with her one true love is told through flashback is a device that bears echoes of Titanic and that the film’s title character is a witness to events that effected America and the World through the use of special effects also recalls Forrest Gump; however, while such similarities are evident, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is much more than them and certainly more satisfying than either. That the main hook of the story, a man born old yet grows physically younger as he ages, is not exploited as a gimmick but used to make poignant statements on the nature of youth and old age as well the role they play within relationships makes the film more satisfying on an emotional level. There are definite similarities between the physical and emotional dependencies one has upon others when young and also when nearing the end of their life and the nature of Benjamin Button’s story highlights this well and also highlights how the appearance of age can effect how a person can interpret the nature of a relationship between two people.
The use of special effects to depict, near flawlessly, the appearance of extreme age upon Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button, works very well in the film. The young Benjamin, in the body of frail old man, is both clearly old but also still clearly Brad Pitt underneath the wrinkles and as the character gets older and his body younger, it becomes difficult to identify where the aid of CGI stops and the start of Brad Pitt in just make up begins. That the CGI and make up is so effective adds a significant amount of believability to Pitt’s performance as it does again in later scenes where his body regresses physically to that of a teen. However, the effectiveness of the CGI does raise questions as to how strong Pitt’s performance truly is. The character of Benjamin soon becomes a witness to the actions of other, more colorful, characters that he meets throughout his life as well as being witness to events in history during his lifetime such as WWII and the beginnings of America’s space flight programs. Playing witness so often leaves the character something of a blank canvas which shows through in Pitt’s performance. Pitt, while good, is satisfied with watching others, narrating the scenes, but demonstrating little emotional response on screen when responding to anything he does or sees.
Even though Brad Pitt does give a good performance as Benjamin Button, his role is more memorable due to the nature of the character and the visual trickery used to achieve it but it is the supporting roles in the film that are the most memorable. Cate Blanchett gives quite a strong performance as Daisy who cares for Benjamin but whose appearance becomes a barrier to them both in their relationship allowing them only a brief moment together where Daisy’s age and Benjamin’s regression in age allows them to “meet in the middle” making subtle commentary on the effect age and physical appearance have on relationships. Also impressive is Jason Fleming as Benjamin’s father who abandons him when he is born but keeps a distant eye on him; Taraji Henson as Queenie, a worker at a nursing home who raises Benjamin in spite of his appearance; Tilda Swinton as a somewhat cold, married woman who becomes a brief love interest for Benjamin and Jared Harris as Captain Mike, a tugboat Captain who teaches Benjamin to embrace life.
Overall, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, through telling the tale of a man whose life is clearly different than anyone’s, serves to remind us that we all have our own view of the world and of life as highlighted in Pitt’s narration over the film’s final scenes. With strong performances, an interesting story, impressive visuals and some complex themes of life and age, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a film worthy of attention and should satisfy most audiences.
Rating: 4/5
