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THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is stunning. The story, the acting, the effects, the craftsmanship of the filmmakers--everything hits on all cylinders. And with the extra features available with THE CRITERION COLLECTION, the viewer learns about the remarkable technology that allowed Brad Pitt to play young (meaning "old") Benjamin by digitally placing an animated face on another actor's body. Then the viewer learns how "cosmetic" effects were used to make Pitt and costar Cate Blanchett look much, much younger. The disc containing the special features, where everything is discussed about the film--from its inception to post-production--is actually longer than the film itself, but well worth taking the time to watch. It's as spellbinding as the haunting tale of Benjamin Button--a person who was born old, and ages backwards through decade after decade of life primarily in New Orleans. And over the course of the story, some very compelling and interesting characters weave in and out of Benjamin's life in grand fashion.
And what a story! As director David Fincher advises in a must-see audio commentary, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is not a "love story", it's a "death story." As the story begins, we find Cate Blanchett's Daisy character literally on her death bed as Katrina bears down on NOLA. As she has her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) read aloud from Benjamin's personal diary, the story moves back to New Orleans during World War I, to the dedication of a new clock for the city's train station, whereby Gateau, the blind clockmaker, has installed a clock that runs backwards--"So that all the sons we lost in the war might return to us." We then move to the evening of Armistice Day, the night a withered and monster-looking Benjamin is born, with his dazed father (Jason Flemying) literally leaving the newborn on the doorstep of the local old folks' home. Thus an ancient-looking Benjamin literally grows up surrounded by death, as inhabitant after inhabitant dies, only to be replaced by other inhabitants who die. Benjamin's childhood may be the best, most entertaining part of a most entertaining film, because all the characters that come into Benjamin's life are so delightful and fun to watch. (Two of the most compelling characters are Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), Benjamin's adoptive mother, and the hysterical Captain Mike (Jared Harris), who gives adolescent Benjamin his first job on a tugboat, and a most interesting coming-of-age evening.) Of course it's during his childhood that Benjamin meets 7-year-old Daisy; both are immediately drawn to one another, and as Daisy so wondrously states, they spend the next few years preparing to "meet in the middle."
The story moves on from Benjamin's childhood, when he leaves New Orleans at age 17 (yet he looks 60) to adventure on Captain Mike's boat literally all over the world. Before World War II erupts, he has his first love affair in Russia with Elizabeth Abbott (Tilda Swinton is terrific), the wife of an English diplomat, and during the war Benjamin experiences suffering and death as Captain Mike's tugboat is destroyed at sea. Benjamin returns to New Orleans following the war, and as the years unfold his youthful looks begin to coincide with Daisy's (who is in a ballerina troupe traveling the world), until an injury ends her career, and in her thirties she returns to New Orleans, and Benjamin and Daisy begin their lives together. There is pending heartbreak because, as Benjamin laments, "Nothing ever lasts", and over the decade of the Sixties Daisy ages while Benjamin looks younger; a daughter is born in 1968, and a year later, Benjamin informs his soulmate, "She needs a father, not a playmate." He quietly leaves early one dawn, and we don't find him again until 13 years later, when he shows up unexpectedly at Daisy's dance studio; both Benjamin and Daisy are in their fifties, yet Daisy looks middle-aged, while Benjamin barely looks 20. There is a brief romantic encounter, then the story doesn't pick up again until Daisy receives a call from Child Services, asking for her assistance with a confused boy who doesn't know who he is. Daisy moves back to the nursing home and becomes Benjamin's caretaker, until in 2003, appearing as an infant, he dies in Daisy's arms. So indeed, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is a "death story", but it is also a rich celebration of life.
THE CRITERION COLLECTION version of this film is enthusiastically recommended. David Fincher has made a masterpiece, richly detailed and marvelously crafted; THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON could very well be this generation's "Citizen Kane".
--D. Mikels, Esq.
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May 5, 2009 "Please retry" | Standard Edition | 1 | $5.38 | $3.99 |
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Merchant Video
This tile no longer came with slip cover!
Sadly the slip cover is missing! I give 5 star for movie and transfer itself. For packaging, such criterion release, they shall not taken out the slip cover and with different case design as others! Sad! Sad! Sad!
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- Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2025
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J. F. G. G.Reviewed in Spain on November 18, 2011
Benjamín Botones...
David Fincher, siempre me ha gustado, al menos cada una de las películas que he visto (otras aun las tengo pendientes), su método de dirección, es lento... pero sin pausa; Zodiac (una de mis favoritas), Seven, The game o el club de la lucha entre otras.J. F. G. G.Benjamín Botones...
Reviewed in Spain on November 18, 2011
Esta película, bonita como poco, presentada además con este formato, HD para disfrutar al máximo, con una imagen buena y un audio también bueno (en castellano por cierto, version alemana).
El book que tiene es simple pero coqueto ;), y el digi donde van los BD, precioso con el curioso bebe.
El precio que queda la película ronda los 8€, y no se puede decir nada más. Si eres premium, y por poco que pienses en adquirir la película, esta edición es magnífica.
Recomendada 100%.
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- Ella-Jane BradleyReviewed in Australia on June 9, 2025
Benjamin Button - great movie 👍
