"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Movie Review

After a brief hiatus thanks to the holidays we are back with a new review. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (PG-13) stars Brad Pitt as the title character who inexplicably ages backwards. Needless to say drama ensues. Cate Blanchett and Julia Ormond co-star and David Fincher directs.

Ryan: Although The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is getting tremendous best picture buzz it’s not best picture material. The movie boasts some of the best special effects that one will ever see in film but the bottom line is that it’s only a good film and not a great film. There are several really well executed scenes and the performances by the two leads are noteworthy. But the movie has several flaws that prevent it from being an instant classic.

Andy: Benjamin Button has the feel of on Oscar movie. It has a sweeping, epic narrative (and runtime), it has big name actors playing life-long roles. It has historic qualities coupled with intensely personal themes. The story is even based off a work of one of America ’s most beloved authors, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Unfortunately having the ingredients for an Oscar doesn’t mean that it deserves consideration. Even though it has some very strong points, Benjamin Button should not be considered a Best Picture contender.

Ryan: If the movie wasn’t written by the guy who wrote Forrest Gump, Eric Roth, then there might have been a strong plagiarizing case taking shape. The movies are eerily similar—an atypical leading man journeying through life during extraordinary moments while meeting some memorable characters. This might not have been that big of an issue but the unoriginal narrative shoots down an otherwise wholly original idea (of a man aging backwards).

Andy: The 20^th century victory lap the film takes us on is probably the root of what is wrong with this movie. Scenes of WWII, and New York City in the 50s make Benjamin Button seem as if it’s trying too hard. The complexity of Benjamin’s situation and what he must endure with the eccentric people he meets would be plenty to carry the movie along, but in an attempt to be more epic (or self important) the movie has done itself a disservice, diminishing an interesting story and some very good performances.

Ryan: Pitt and Blanchett’s names are also getting tossed around for Oscar nominations and they might come to fruition although I’m not sure if they would be justified. They are both really good in the movie but they don’t give transcendent performances. Although I do think that what holds them back is some uninspired writing. Further compounding the issue is how Fincher is unable to establish a believable lifelong chemistry between the two characters. The audience is shown that these two characters love each other but one never sees why these two characters would fall in love in the first place.

Andy: Pitt gives a very solid performance, helped along by great make-up and special effects work. The main distraction from his acting is in the second third of the movie where he goes from being an interesting character that we’ve been following for an hour to simply being Brad Pitt. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as distracting if the film didn’t proceed to milk his movie star looks for all they are worth during this sequence. It is unfortunate, because an otherwise noteworthy performance is weakened because it.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a pretty good movie that fails to live up to its potential. Just because it is not as Oscar-worthy as expected does not mean it is not still pretty good.

Final grade: B.