Product Details

• Studio: Paramount
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0017ANAZE

Product Description

Amazon.com
The technical dazzle of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a truly astonishing thing to behold: this story of a man who ages backwards requires Brad Pitt to begin life as a tiny elderly man, then blossom into middle age, and finally, wisely, become young. How director David Fincher--with makeup artists, special-effects wizards, and body doubles--achieves this is one of the main sources of fascination in the early reels of the movie. The premise is loosely borrowed from an F. Scott Fitzgerald story (and bears an even stronger resemblance to Andrew Sean Greer's novel The Confessions of Max Tivoli), with young/old Benjamin growing up in New Orleans, meeting the girl of his dreams (Cate Blanchett), and sharing a few blissful years with her until their different aging agendas send them in opposite directions. The love story takes over the second half of the picture, as Eric Roth's script begins to resemble his work on Forrest Gump. This is too bad, because Benjamin's early life is a wonderfully picaresque journey, especially a set of midnight liaisons with a Russian lady (Tilda Swinton) in an atmospheric hotel. Fincher observes all this with an entomologist's eye, cool and exacting, which keeps the material from getting all gooey. Still, the Hurricane Katrina framing story feels put-on, and the movie lets Benjamin slide offscreen during its later stages--curious indeed. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "As mesmerizing as it is totally unbelievable....", January 16, 2009

By	Jerry Parks "USAToday All-American Teacher; N... (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews

As others have said, it's hard to know where to begin the discussion of this movie. Be warned--it is a long film, but the pace and plot keeps one's attention to the point that a bathroom break is to be forestalled as long as possible. It's certainly not the best movie I ever saw, but for three hours, this superbly-written narrative is definitely an interesting escape.

I won't rehash the plot. Other reviewers have done that. Suffice it to say the story is a curious (sorry, bad pun) admixture of 'Forrest Gump' and 'The Notebook', with a little 'Forever Young' thrown in for good measure.

The cinematography is outstanding as Benjamin, son of a button maker, journeys through major events of the 20th century. The make-up is stunning. While one is hard-pressed to note precisely where Brad Pitt enters the movie, his reversion to youth is amazing. Pitt's final appearance (that was him, wasn't it?) is a marvel of restored youth, and the film makes no apology for extolling Brad's 'pretty boy' appearance. Cate Blanchett as the old woman however is, in my opinion, the tour-de-force of the grease-painter's work.

The performers do their job. Brad Pitt and Taraji P. Henson are convincing enough (there'll be no Oscars here), Tilda Swinton is elegant, Cate Blanchett is truly wonderful, and--Oh beautiful Julia Ormond--I never thought you could ever get old!

There are some implied sexual scenes, the language gets a bit rough at times, and teaching morality is NOT the forte of this film, so parents--take note. But the story is as mesmerizing as it is totally unbelievable. Unless one knows the ending (I did not), the anticipation of the resolution builds as a good story should. The viewer is aware that something poignant (predictable or not) will embellish the final scenes. To me, those scenes were neither disappointing nor overwhelming, and 'curtain call-esque' finale added little or nothing to the outcome.

In the end, this is a long movie, beautifully filmed, extremely well-written and very well-acted. It is a movie that might--just might--have been as good in two hours as it was in three. 'Benjamin Button' is a paradigm of grasping every opportunity before fate (or kismet) rearranges life's destinies, and a parable of the results--the morality--of those choices.

'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is a treatise on life ("...you never know what's comin' for ya"), history, the passing of time ("...we're all goin' the same way"), and of course, death ("...in the end, you just have to let go"). It is a film not quite as entertaining as (though certainly more depressing than) 'Forrest Gump', but for the romantic soul, or those who have loved ones in the twilight of life, it is a movie that will certainly touch--if not break--your heart, and one you will contemplate for an extended period after it's done.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A curious tale, yet beautifully told, January 4, 2009

By	z hayes (plano,texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is adapted from a 1922 short story by F Scott Fitzgerald and in the capable hands of director David Fincher, this implausible tale of a man aging backwards [from old age to adulthood to infancy]is told in a lyrical and haunting manner and to me at least, the implausibility of the tale didn't affect my enjoyment of the story.

The movie begins in a hospital in New Orleans just as Hurricane Katrina is about to unleash itself upon Louisiana. Julia Ormond plays the daughter of Daisy [a remarkably aged Cate Blanchett] who tries to comfort her dying mother. Daisy asks her daughter to read excerpts of a journal to her, and it turns out to be the journal of Benjamin Button [Brad Pitt], a man afflicted by the malady of aging backwards. As the journal is read, we are taken via flashbacks through Benjamin's life - from his birth and abandonment at the end of WW I, his 'adoption' by a caring nursing home worker, Queenie [Taraji P Henson], and his meeting with Daisy as a young child and their instant bond, and all of Benjamin's memorable life experiences.

There is a certain similarity between this movie and Forrest Gump - both main characters in these two movies are unique and they both go through life with a certain air of naivete and innocence. Benjamin Button has his share of life altering experiences - being employed on a tug boat that even sees some action in WW II, his induction into carnal pleasures at a brothel, his brief fling with a married woman [Tilda Swinton in a brief but memorable role] etc. All through these experiences, the bond between Daisy [who gets older] and Benjamin [who gets younger] remains strong despite undergoing the test of time.

Though this plays out as a parable on aging and living life to the fullest, it is also a very touching love story and the concept of a soulmate is portrayed very credibly here, especially by the two leads, Pitt and Blanchett who shine in their roles. This is encapsulated by a scene in which Pitt's character Benjamin says: "I was thinking how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is", and Blanchett's Daisy replies: "Some things last". The affirmation of true love and it's very credible portrayal here elevates this movie above another gimmicky Hollywood drama. I'd recommend this to fans of period and romantic dramas.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Whimsical, Impossible and Ultimately Meaningful., January 5, 2009

By	Christopher White (Littleton, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really don't know where to start with this movie, it's incredible on so many levels--though not without flaws--so it's intimidating to try to do the movie justice.

Let's start with the first act, I really feel like this first act is the strongest part of the movie. Benjamin is incredible, I've seen many amazing CG humans before but nothing lives up the the level of Benjamin as a physically old man, so much so that I've seen many animators who were shocked that it was a digital character for much of the beginning of the movie. This also must have posed some pretty large challenges for the actors to act to with the warmth, surprise and horror of the baby bold so very old, not to mention the incredible editing work they did as well.

From a story perspective, I think this was the part of the film that most resonated with me. Seeing Benjamin grow up mentally while getting younger physically was I think the juxtaposition was at it's most drastic. I loved the absurdity of such a young person visiting a brothel and having his first drink while everyone around him thought him so old. I also loved Daisy's reaction to him, understanding his personality and maturity when no one else seamed to know how to treat him. I was mesmerized though this entire first act.

Then Benjamin started to grow up, get physically stronger and the arks converge, the story continued to be very interesting. I loved the subplot with Tilda Swinton, it was so awkward and subtle with new emotions waking in Benjamin. In the end though, it was just Brad Pitt being Brad Pitt, nothing seemed off and nothing really resonated with me from this part of the film. I only have believed Daisy's character throughout this section and I defiantly didn't fully believe Benjamin was the same man he had been growing up.

The third section of the film returned to a more meaningful story for me, at this point I did believe in Daisy, both as a old women and the aging women taking care of Benjamin as he got younger and younger. What I don't understand is why the director and screenwriter made the decision to make Benjamin's mind become childlike, to a certain degree I think it makes sense, but his maturity and memories shouldn't have disappeared that fast in my opinion. But it moved the story forward and completed the two character arcs successfully and left me feeling like I had experienced something whimsical, impossible and ultimately meaningful.