Curious how it got all the undeserved hype! (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (DVD))

Member Name: annallon

Product:	The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (DVD)
Date:	03/07/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful cinematography, sometimes good soundtrack

Disadvantages: TOO LONG, boring, recycled ideas/sentimentals

Curious Case of Benjamin Button:

This is an American fantasy drama film released in 2008. It was directed by David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac) and written by Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) and Robin Swicord ( Memoirs of a Geisha). So far, this film has grossed $333 million. and it was loosely based on a short story by Fitzgerald which they've expanded into a nearly 3 hour film. At the 81st Academy Awards, the film won the following nominations: Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects Best Makeup

Brad Pitt plays the character Benjamin Button who is born old.
Cate Blanchett portrays Daisy Fuller. a naive dancer who dreams of being a famous ballet dancer.

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PLOT

The plot is a very simple story; I think it was foolish to stretch this out into a 3 hour film as it is not strong enough on its own to support the film successfully. It's about a baby who was born with physical defects that renders him 'old', which made his father shun him with disgust that he leaves the baby on the steps of the residential home for old people. He's adopted by a kind soul who comes across the baby. But as he lives longer, the younger he ages. This story is essentially about him getting younger and the effect it has on people who have come to bond with him, especially with the character of Daisy Fuller. The interaction between Button and Fuller is quite touching and poignant in parts.

The differences from the book to the film is that in the book, it was set in Baltimore. The change in cities has allowed the director/writer to tie the actual story to real events that has occurred in recent years.

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MY OPINION

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SCRIPT/DIALOGUE:

What I didn't like about this film was the script; it was very similar touching story, in the same vein as Forrest Gump. This is where Eric Roth has let himself and essentially the film down. He has recycled the same ideas and sentiments applied to the characters in this from from FG. The plot was flimsy enough on its own already and the poor unoriginal writing of Roth did not help.

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DIRECTION:

However, the direction of Fincher has swayed my opinion; it was visually orgasmic throughout the film. Everything is stunning; the cinematography, rich colours of the background, special CGI effects, make up effects. But it doesn't pull the film up to a standard that I expected at the minimum, to make a fantastic film, you have to have an original script that captures the mind and hearts of the audience for the duration of the film. Again, Roth lets himself down in the area. He sets up a string of scenes where Benjamin experiences new things all the time, just ordinary things; albeit unrealistic, in an attempt to see the character being moulded as he grows up. But it just felt very empty, shallow and slightly awkward.

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CHARACTERS:

The character of Benjamin and Daisy is rather thin, there isn't much to say about the characters portrayed in the film. Benjamin is an unique man who is born old, but that is not what this film is about. It is mainly about his constant adoration of Daisy, he doesn't know why he's struck by her, he spends his years analysing why he does and he silently waits until Daisy grows up; his loyalty to her is rewarded.

What would strike me as a bit odd is that Daisy shows affection for Benjamin from a very young age; and continues to hold affection for him through her teens and young 20s. I only ask...why? He doesn't seem to be that interesting, nothing special to look at ( when he was old obviously) which made this aspect of the film slightly unrealistic.

I loved the character Queenie, a black woman who had rather profound way of thinking of complicated issues; death, life and all sorts. However, she reminded me of Forrest's mother who also had profound quotes that Forrest carried thorugh his life as did Button in this film.

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PERFORMANCES

The performances portrayed by Pitt and Blanchett was top notch; as a viewer, I was enchanted by the characters' emotions and desires which they displayed throughout the film. The chemistry they had together didn';t feel fake, it was as if they'd known each other for years. There's a lot of high and lows in this film and the duo accurately acted rather well with the so-so dialogue and slightly cheesy scenes which they still pulled off well. There was one or two out-standing piece of acting which was in the character of Queenie portrayed beautifully by Taraji P. Henson; who is the only person who loved him unconditionally and understood what it was like to be old, with her inability to have children and helped him to mould his way of thinking as he gets older. And Tilda Swinton plays a bored woman with her marriage who becomes a love interest.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF FILM:

There was one tiny aspect of the film that I didn't like which was the constant jumping forwards and back to the diary events and the old lady in the hospital room- it left the film feeling disjointed and disrupted the flow of the film annoyingly.

The storyline itself was very simple but I felt it was too weak to have been stretched out into a 3 hour film; which is rather long by anyone's standards! The film plodges on, it is rather dull in some parts and I could not help but feel tempted to fast-forward some of the scenes. Towards in the last few quarters of the film, Roth/Fincher has suddenly started following the typical cliché scenes where the two gets together and have a happy life- moving in together, painting their room together- how disgustingly cliché! It's been done hundreds of time before and I also felt they tried to cram in as many sex scenes as they could possibly to express the love they had for each other. WE KNOW THAT ALREADY!

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MOST OUT-STANDING AREA OF FILM

The best thing about this film WAS the make-up, I have no idea how they made Pitt turn into the little shell of an old man who was no taller than 4 feet. This is serious makeup effects and CGI work and it has been used very effectively to show the fragility of Benjamin at his young age. The age progression of Pitt and Blanchett's character was very realistic and very well thought-out in their acting; they have inserted a few mannerisms that is associated with the older people in their movements.


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DVD FEATURES:

The DVD costs about £10 pounds from Amazon and it comes with special features such as audio commentary and behind the scenes footage of Pitt making a transformation into the old man. It also has subtitles of a wide range of languages, mainly European.

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CONCLUSION:

Overall, it was a good attempt by Fincher, it was a good idea and plot, even if it was a little thin, it was not helped by the lack of originality by Roth who has confused Forrest Gump with Benjamin Button. The performances by Pitt, Blanchett was perfectly enchanting but not enough to save the film. The visual and cinematography, make up and CGI effects was sublime. This is why I will give this film 3 out of 5. I'd like to give it 3.5 out of 5 though!

Thank you for reading. And if you feel that I've revealed too much, please comment and Ill make the necessary adjustments.

Summary: Not for all, it is nice entertainment but those who like picking at films, beware!