Movie Review: Benjamin Button

What would happen
if instead of growing
older as time went by you
grew younger?
Based on the
F. Scott Fitzgerald short
story, The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button tells the
tale of a man who ages in
reverse; he is born an old
man, and as the years progress,
he gets younger. Over
the course of two hours
and forty-five minutes, the
audience is taken away on
an epic fantasy tale about
the intrinsic nature of life,
death, and love. Benjamin,
played by the stunning
Brad Pitt is abandoned by
his father and taken in by
a nursing home caretaker
Queenie (Taraji P. Henson).
Brad Pitt has
been criticized for giving
an overly stoic performance,
but the true beauty
of his acting in this film
lies in his subtleties and
his believable aging (or
perhaps de-aging.) Brad
Pitt manages to express the
nuances of old age as well
as teenage life.
The nursing home
is where Benjamin meets
the love of his life Daisy,
played by Cate Blanchett
who’s most famous for
playing Galadriel in The
Lord of The Rings Trilogy.
The two get in trouble for
playing together and their
love is instantly forbidden
because Benjamin is
seen as an old man and
she as merely a child. He
is judged by everyone but
the residents at the nursing
home.
Cate Blanchett,
who plays Daisy, Benjamin’s
love interest, also
delivers an emotion filled
performance, particularly
when she meets Benjamin
a decade after their marriage
ended; she is in her
fifties, and he is in his late
teens.
As the years go
by, he starts to grow stronger
and his mind matures.
Benjamin works
Captain Mike (Jared Harris)
and his crew and lives
his years as a sailor in
World War 2. While on the
tugboat, Benjamin never
forgets to write to Daisy
about his adventures.
The movie
explores their on and off
relesionship. The chemistry
between Brad and Cate
is undeniably intense.
The entire
premise of Benjamin
and Daisy meeting in the
middle is very interesting.
When their ages coincide,
they have a passionate
and happy relationship.
However, Benjamin starts
getting younger and Daisy
is still aging.
Regardless, the
story is brillantly told with
many levels of meaning.
The true beauty
of Benjamin Button may
lie in its universal, but
not uniform, appeal. This
movie will leave an impact
on everyone, from grandfather
to grandchild, but
the impact will not be the
same.
This movie draws
parrallels between old and
young that have never
before been so clearly
developed. Life, somehow,
and it’s path, suddenly
becomes simpler, while
watching the trials of Benjamin
Buton.
Writer, Eric Roth
brings back the style and
dialect of his earlier movie,
“Forest Gump.”
David Fincher
takes a slight departure
from the brass of Fight
Club and indulges in
subtleties with Benjamin
Button. The film is filled
with poignant and silent
moments that reach out to
the audience and grab them
by both the heart and mind.
Benjamin Button is characterized
by mood rather
than motion.
The already
interesting story is backed
up by amazing and poetic
visuals by Fincher and
Claudio Miranda, the cinematographer.
Overall, this film
is magnificent; almost
all the components fall
into place seamlessly, the
directing, acting, cinematography,
plot, and score.
While this is not the film
for people who go to the
movies to see explosions
and insane action stunts,
Benjamin Button has a lot
to offer many people.