Written by Linda
February 07, 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one of those curious movies that is easier to admire than to fully fall in love with.
In truly epic fashion, this curious case covers the lifespan of one Benjamin Button, from his birth in the night of the end of the Great War (World War I), to his death sometime in modern times. There is a great love story, with a woman whom he knew since he was a child, with a woman whom he crossed paths with many times in his life, sometimes connecting, and while at other times, things just weren't meant to be. It is solidly directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Zodiac), and certainly looks fantastic. And yes I cried. But did I love this film... hmmm...
Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt, in a sweet, wide-eyed performance) was born with the body of a little old man, so ugly and withered that his biological father abandons him on the doorstep of a senior home after the mother dies in childbirth. He is promptly adopted with no reservations by Queenie (the fine Taraji P. Henson) who takes care of the old folks, and thinking nothing of adopting this strange old-young infant into the fold. Benjamin isn't expected to survive, but by the time he is 7, then 12 years old, he is hobbling around like, well, a little old man with the inquisitiveness, guilelessness, and curiosity of a youngster.
Because such an epic requires a parallel love story, Benjamin meets the granddaughter of one of his housemates, a lovely young lass named Daisy. He is smitten, but it is hard not to see the creepiness of a little old man hiding in a fort with a child, telling stories. Luckily, in the film this is acknowledged, and in a sense, Benjamin also knows that others won't accept this, even though he is just a kid.
But as Benjamin ages, he gets younger. So by the time he is in his late teens with a libido and need to see the world to match, he leaves home to work on a tugboat, promising to write Daisy fwhereverever he lands. His adventures taken him to Russia, where he has a full-blown affair with a diplomat's lonely wife (Tilda Swinton), and he makes pals with men on the ship (including most notably Captain Mike [Jared Harris], a swarthy and boozy Irishman). By the time World War II ends, he crosses paths with adult Daisy again (now Cate Blanchett), and it is inevitable as their ages get closer together with passing years, that their love affair will finaconsummatemate. But how long can such a love last? She will grow older, and he will get more youthful and beautiful (after all, it is Brad Pitt we're talking about).
As the story goes on, it is somehow easy to accept the outrageous framework of the plot: that a man is born old, lives a full life, and dies a child. Pitt and Blanchett are both pretty enough that they can work a full 20 years of a character's life without the help of a whole lot of special effects. But luckily, the aging makeup is convincing (see, say, Brokeback Mountain for sucky aging effects that take you out of a story). Rather than looking for clues or flaws in little-old-man Benjamin (who still has Pitt's eyes), you are almost immediately sold on the concept. In the same way, it is heartbreaking to see a 60-something Daisy facing the face of her lover as a teenager.
So, yes, you can see how a film like this is made to be a weepie. A life is full of death and loss as well as happiness and contentment. But with Benjamin racing against his own backwards clock, there is an extra wrench thrown into the mix. The film is narrated by Daisy's adult daughter (played by Julia Ormond) as Daisy lies in her deathbed, which is kind of a sneaky way to bring both Benjamin and Daisy's perspectives into the flashback. On top of that, their scenes have the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina bearing down on Daisy's New Orleans hospital (which is *this close* to being an eyeball-rolling setup, yet somehow works). This type of bookending of a story can often be clunky (see Flags of Our Fathers, for instance), but Benjamin Button just barely gets away with it.
Though I liked the film overall, and can definitely recommend it, I still hesitate to say I loved Benjamin Button. The film is extremely melancholy throughout, and lacks a solid climax, reading more like a long novel (and this film is almost three hours long, by the way). And it didn't help that I found Daisy, especially as a younger woman, to be, well, kind of unlikable. It is hard to root for characters to get together one one is a self-centered immature floosy. But the story is so original, you want to go with it. Button's life is full and rich, and the characters that he meets along the way are both ordinary and extraordinary... like Button himself. If his story were linear in the "normal" direction, it certainly would not be as memorable. But the fantasy twist certainly makes you want to throw caution and doubt to the wind and go along for the ride.
DVD NOTES
Surprisingly for a new film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button gets the Criterion Collection Special Edition treatment. This includes a full disc of supplementary material, including stills galleries, trailers, and super-extensive background featurettes (labeled “First Trimester,” “Second Trimester,” “Third Trimester,” and “Birth” (when the film premieres). Fincher talks about the inherent familiarity of Brad Pitt’s face in pop culture as helping the magic of the film, as audiences struggle to see the face they find familiar on the body of a little old man. The technological aspects of the film are fascinating, and the explanations are exhausting. The very extensive extras also delve into the art direction, director David Fincher’s creative process, and features interviews with Pitt and Blanchett.
