REVIEW #4: In Theaters Now - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Ari S
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Just off the bat, I'm going to say that I recommend this movie, but you have to see it in theaters. I can’t imagine this being nearly as enjoyable if you’re pausing it to take a phone call every 2 minutes. And if you do choose to see it, be ready to be forgiving of its faults, and be ready to enjoy the nuance of Pitt’s long narrative storytelling accompained with beautiful cinematography and score.
In short, don't go in with any expectations, other than to be intruiged and suprised.

Ok, now the actual review:
"Benjamin Button" is about a man that is born old and dying and ages backwords as everyone and everything around him gets older. The film opens in present day, with a dying Daisy (Cate Blanchett) on her deathbed and her daughter, who is reading Benjamin's diary to her in Daisy's last hours. Brad Pitt plays the title character. We see him raised by Queenie (Tajari P. Henson) who runs and old age home where Benjamin fits in just fine. There he meets the granddaughter of one the residents, Daisy, who grows up to be Cate Blanchett (more on that later). Benjamin spends his adult years traveling the world, though never really in the right place at the right time.

I would have never expected David Fincher, known for crime-dramas such as SE7EN and ZODIAC to be the director of this "epic" -- being the operative word -- /romance. Its hard not to draw similarities between the movie and "Forrest Gump" -- two men who don't fit in with society, both join the navy, have tragic life long loves and have mothers that tell them a variation on the "Life is like a box of chocolates; You never know what you're gonna get" quote. And, if that wasn't enough, both screenplays are by the same man, Eric Roth. Its the end product and the film as a whole that makes "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" quite a different piece of work.

[MINOR SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH -- SKIP TO NEXT IF YOU CHOOSE]
To note the good: Every 20 minutes or so, you come across a scene, thats anywhere from thirty seconds to a minute or two that is so perfectly composed that its so heartbreakingly beautiful it makes you remember why the film works so well as a whole. To name a few -- A blind clockmaker unveils his backwards masterpiece, accompanied with a story of young men dying in war, but shot in reverse; Benjamin taking [SPOILER] his dying father to see the sunrise from the oceanfront porch on the family’s old summer home; Daisy [SPOILER] as an old woman, walking toddler-age Benjamin through a park, giving him a kiss; [SPOILER] The last shot of the movie showing the blind clockmakers piece being swept up in basement flood during Katrina -- I could go on for days about these type of moments.

[SPOILERS ARE OVER]

Pitt is able to hold the film together and to see him as an old man and a young boy, well lets just say the effects are visually stunning. Blanchett is fine, but its almost impossible to buy their relationship in the first half of the film, as they have almost no chemistry. There is one scene in which she tries to seduce him through a sensual ballet act, which would otherwise be utterly beautiful and engaging if she wasn't jammering her yap off about silly crap. Its like Eric Roth made her Poppy from "Happy-Go-Lucky" during the first hour and half of the movie. I think that where the movie seriously falls is that in the end, it tries (but THANKFULLY fails) to be Forrest Gump when it should try to be Big Fish. The one super HUGE issue I had with this movie was that they make no effort to make Cate Blanchett look young. In a scene in New York, she stars in “Carousal” and looks 38 when she is suppose to be 23. Just embarrassing on the filmmakers part, considering the spectacular effects making Pitt so organically old and young.

To sum it up, there is great story telling, beautiful visuals, decent acting and superb direction. The movie always feels like its 75% on the ball, missing one of the above, but as long as you can forgive that one fault it is a thoroughly enjoyable watching experience.

VERDICT: If you do see it, see it in Theaters. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is an aquired taste -- everyone will get something different out of this movie, though maybe some more than others.