The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
"Everyone feels different about themselves one way or another, but we all goin' the same way."
****
After hearing all the hype and hoopla over the ‘amazing make up’ and special effects in the new Brad Pitt movie where he is old and gets younger before its release, and then nothing more than a muted critical response following it, I had pretty low expectations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This despite being a very big fan of director David Fincher (Seven, Zodiac, The Game) and a pretty big fan of Mr. Pitt (Assassination of Jesse James, Fight Club) too. It had all the makings of a dud in my view…drooling 90 year old Brad Pitt included…and didn’t look like it would work. It looked…weird.
But it wasn’t.
Once you get past the first 20 minutes or so of Brad Pitt as a old, old man, you forget all the talk about what he looks like, and you get into the story. I hesitate to say this is an incredible film, or an ‘epic’ one, because it is flawed, however slight, but its nothing that will ruin or take away from the viewing experience in my opinion. In fact, I felt like I wanted to know more about this character, and how he became to be the way he was…like I didn’t really see ‘enough’ to know him as well as I would have liked…but maybe that’s part of its charm? For me, there were a lot of similarities to Forest Gump in Curious Case…, another ‘Great American Tale’ spanning a large chunk of the countries history…about a ‘simple’ man who led an extraordinary life. Benjamin Button is not as simple as Forest was, and because of his ‘condition’, the movies quirks and turns not as conventional. But there is a tragic love story at its core, and a few ‘chance encounters’ along the way that reminded me of that Tom Hanks film…but it doesn’t feel like a rip-off.
I was entertained throughout, with Pitt giving a really, really great performance. He’s been good to great in a few of his recent performances recently (stellar in Assassination of Jesse James…), and seems to be using his immense movie star power and respectability to not only get interesting films made, but is very good in them as well, not letting his ‘presence’ dominate more than it needs too. There’s also an interesting blend of quirky, if not memorable characters in supporting roles…with Captain Mike and the hilarious and charming Mr. Daws and his stories of being hit by lightning at the top of my list. Cate Blanchett was solid as ever as Benjamin’s true love, who he meets as a ‘child’ and throughout their lives as the two of them grow old together…but in opposite directions. A classic Hollywood love story if there ever was one…only this time with an interesting twist.
The movie may not have said as much about life and love as maybe it could have, and as I said before, even though it was 2 ½ hours long, I didn’t get to know Benjamin as well as I would like to…as if something was missing…but all in all, a very good movie, and one I highly recommend.
****
After hearing all the hype and hoopla over the ‘amazing make up’ and special effects in the new Brad Pitt movie where he is old and gets younger before its release, and then nothing more than a muted critical response following it, I had pretty low expectations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This despite being a very big fan of director David Fincher (Seven, Zodiac, The Game) and a pretty big fan of Mr. Pitt (Assassination of Jesse James, Fight Club) too. It had all the makings of a dud in my view…drooling 90 year old Brad Pitt included…and didn’t look like it would work. It looked…weird.
But it wasn’t.
Once you get past the first 20 minutes or so of Brad Pitt as a old, old man, you forget all the talk about what he looks like, and you get into the story. I hesitate to say this is an incredible film, or an ‘epic’ one, because it is flawed, however slight, but its nothing that will ruin or take away from the viewing experience in my opinion. In fact, I felt like I wanted to know more about this character, and how he became to be the way he was…like I didn’t really see ‘enough’ to know him as well as I would have liked…but maybe that’s part of its charm? For me, there were a lot of similarities to Forest Gump in Curious Case…, another ‘Great American Tale’ spanning a large chunk of the countries history…about a ‘simple’ man who led an extraordinary life. Benjamin Button is not as simple as Forest was, and because of his ‘condition’, the movies quirks and turns not as conventional. But there is a tragic love story at its core, and a few ‘chance encounters’ along the way that reminded me of that Tom Hanks film…but it doesn’t feel like a rip-off.
I was entertained throughout, with Pitt giving a really, really great performance. He’s been good to great in a few of his recent performances recently (stellar in Assassination of Jesse James…), and seems to be using his immense movie star power and respectability to not only get interesting films made, but is very good in them as well, not letting his ‘presence’ dominate more than it needs too. There’s also an interesting blend of quirky, if not memorable characters in supporting roles…with Captain Mike and the hilarious and charming Mr. Daws and his stories of being hit by lightning at the top of my list. Cate Blanchett was solid as ever as Benjamin’s true love, who he meets as a ‘child’ and throughout their lives as the two of them grow old together…but in opposite directions. A classic Hollywood love story if there ever was one…only this time with an interesting twist.
The movie may not have said as much about life and love as maybe it could have, and as I said before, even though it was 2 ½ hours long, I didn’t get to know Benjamin as well as I would like to…as if something was missing…but all in all, a very good movie, and one I highly recommend.
posted by neil at 11:28 PM
2 Comments:
See, I think B-Pitt is a great actor (even though I disagree and thought he was craip in Ass. of JJ), but I don't know if I could get past the crappy make-up. You can't make people look old. It always ends up looking like someone slapped a silly putty pancake on the actor's face.
Yet, you know your film, and if you give this one a good review, I have to say I'd be willing to give it a chance.
On a related note.... I just saw RockandRolla. Holy shit. Best movie I've seen in ages. I'm sure you've already seen this gem.
Yeah, RockandRolla was a really cool flick.
I didn't think he was amazing in AoJJ...but for me, that movie was more about the whole than his performance. Same with CCoBB...he was good, and his character is intersting, but its the whole of the movie that makes it a good film.
And I 100% agree with you about the make up. Even though the film won an Oscar for make-up, I wasn't impressed really...it always ends up looking fake.
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