The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Review and Rating

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Posted on 10 April 2009 by Chris

ReviewColumn's rating :
4 stars

If someone were to ask for one word to describe this movie, there would be none. Some movies need a lot more than just a word to portray them and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) certainly falls into the category. Coming from the stables of a director with precedents like Se7en and Fight Club and the writer of Forrest Gump, the movie owes it central concept to a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Nominated for a record 13 Academy awards or Oscars as they are popularly called, the movie won three of them apart from the numerous other laurels it received since it was released in December, 2008.

Spanning hours and continents, the movie is an epic tale of love and discovery for a man who is born old and ages backwards. They say fact is stranger is than fiction but when fiction is brought to the world with such outstanding performances, you tend to believe otherwise. Abandoned by his father and born as a man who looks to be on his death bed, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) learns to fight his fate with his surrogate mother Queenie (Taraji Henson) who adopts him and grows young as he watches his family and friends age. The movie showcases his adventures with life as he travels the world growing stronger by the day, making new friends while losing others. The other constant thing apart from Benjamin Button in this movie which, like Forrest Gump covers so many different facets, is Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the woman he loves and with whom his fate seems to be intertwined.

As has been said numerous times, there is no doubt about the fact that the technology used, the CGI and makeup, are marvelous to say the least and without them, the movie could not have done justice to the brilliant concept of Mr. Fitzgerald. But overshadowing the technological marvels are the performances of the movie’s protagonists. You can use technology to make a man in the mid forties look 80 years old and a 40 year old woman like a 19 year girl but you need performances that would convince the audience about the same.

You do not need to be a Pitt or Blanchett fan to like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and the only things someone could come up with against it would be trivial stuff that you should not be worried too much about if you are going to watch a movie. The movie is a bit longer than two and a half hours and there are moments where you may feel like it stalls but those are compensated by the ones where it enthralls.

A note here for the fans of Fitzgerald. The movie is only loosely based on the story and does not follow it completely. If you go with the expectation to see the story brought to life, you would be disappointed. Do not compare it with the book; it’s the central concept only that has been taken from the book and not the story itself.

Watch it and see how life is lived even when it’s not what you expected it to be. And of course, its not often you get to see a man age backwards.

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