Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I watched the new film by Se7en‘s David Fincher. I found it enthralling. I enjoy slow-developing movies, when the story justifies it and the execution supports it. At over 2 1/2 hours, Benjamin Button fits on every count.

I have always been drawn to the technical side of filmmaking. There is a technique used in the film that was first seen (to my knowledge) in Jurassic Park. In that film it was used to cover an accident, when a stuntwoman’s face accidentally was seen in a pivotal moment. They were able to take the young actress’ face and cover the stuntwoman’s. Later we saw something similar in the Lord of the Rings triliogy, when Elijah Wood and his fellow “large people” had their faces placed on the “little people” that stood in for them in group scenes. Each case has demonstrated huge advancements in the technique, and Benjamin Button used it seamlessly. There may have been one or two brief moments where you know you are not seeing Brad Pitt’s body, but they are insignificant, and never a distraction.

Aging is a major part of the film, and they also accomplish this very well. The makeup is fantastic, and at only one point did I find it somewhat unconvincing, but I am probably a tougher critic than many. There were parts where I found the passage of time hard to follow. With Benjamin’s age being hard to follow, and his connection to the conversely-aging Daisy a critical part of the story

I enjoyed the story. The performances are uniformly excellent. The characters are believable and well-developed. There is real humor, real emotion. The film’s ending is heartbreaking and poignant. Some have found the setting of portions of the movie during Hurricane Katrina distracting. I thought it was fitting considering the story being set in New Orleans.

I think this one is worth your time.