The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
January 8th 2009 02:40
The Basics
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Eric Roth
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jared Harris
The Opinion
First off, the fact that I managed to sit through this film is nothing short of miraculous. Not because the film was bad, quite the opposite, but because I had had a fight with a guy in the cinema parking lot and was worried about the wellbeing of my car. As such, I was pleasantly surprised when the movie actually drew me in. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one of those movies where everyone knows the basic storyline before they go in - its obviously a love story between Benjamin Button (Pitt - duh) and Daisy (Blanchett). Benjamin Button was born in New Orleans in 1918 looking like a waterlogged walnut, suffering from all the ravages of old age. Abandoned by his father, Thomas Button (a button manufacturer oh hah ah), Benjamin is raised by Queenie (Henson) who discovered that Benjamin was getting younger as his years ticked over. However, the film has not been ruined by its trailers and there is a lot more to this movie than originally suggested.
After watching The Curious Case I was struck by how much society treats children and the elderly in the same way – the care that Benjamin received when he was at the start of his life was very similar to that which he received at the end and in Benjamin’s own words “we all end up in diapers in the end”. If I can have a philosophical moment here, this film reminds me of the fact that death is the ultimate equaliser, no one is immune to it no matter the manner of their life. The film also explores how much age has an effect of the behaviour of people around us. At roughly sixteen Benjamin has his first night out at a brothel because Captain Mike (Jared Harris – who reminded me of the man I fought with in the car park) believes Benjamin to be a 70-odd year old who has never had sex. Similarly, Daisy doesn’t really warm up to Benjamin until they are both in their 30s and 40s because he was “just so old”.
It’s these little deeper bits to the movie that really made it enjoyable for me.
This movie is not a movie for people who have issues when facts of life are messed with - you know the folks who watch Back to the Future and whinge about all the things that should have changed but haven't have changed and the people that should be there or here or whatever. It annoyed me how Benjamin's mental state didn't match his physical state. In Fitzgerald’s original short story, at 12 years old Benjamin enjoyed reading, smoking and drinking and was quickly bored by the things that children do. Nearing the end of his life, short-story Benjamin ends up with shorter and shorter term memory like a child. However, movie Benjamin acts like a child when he looks 85 and suffers from dementia when he looks 12. Its really frustrating because my understanding of dementia it develops in brains that are growing old and are losing connections with the memory centres - not something a normal 12 year- old brain would do.
The Final Verdict
This movie is worth going to the movies to see, but if you don’t make it, don’t stress because the value of this movie is its heart, which will be just as enjoyable when it comes out on DVD. I would also like to finally emphasise how amazing this movie must be in order for me to give it a good review, because after I came out of the movie I found that two of my car’s tyres had been punctured with a screwdriver.
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Eric Roth
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jared Harris
The Opinion
First off, the fact that I managed to sit through this film is nothing short of miraculous. Not because the film was bad, quite the opposite, but because I had had a fight with a guy in the cinema parking lot and was worried about the wellbeing of my car. As such, I was pleasantly surprised when the movie actually drew me in. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one of those movies where everyone knows the basic storyline before they go in - its obviously a love story between Benjamin Button (Pitt - duh) and Daisy (Blanchett). Benjamin Button was born in New Orleans in 1918 looking like a waterlogged walnut, suffering from all the ravages of old age. Abandoned by his father, Thomas Button (a button manufacturer oh hah ah), Benjamin is raised by Queenie (Henson) who discovered that Benjamin was getting younger as his years ticked over. However, the film has not been ruined by its trailers and there is a lot more to this movie than originally suggested.
After watching The Curious Case I was struck by how much society treats children and the elderly in the same way – the care that Benjamin received when he was at the start of his life was very similar to that which he received at the end and in Benjamin’s own words “we all end up in diapers in the end”. If I can have a philosophical moment here, this film reminds me of the fact that death is the ultimate equaliser, no one is immune to it no matter the manner of their life. The film also explores how much age has an effect of the behaviour of people around us. At roughly sixteen Benjamin has his first night out at a brothel because Captain Mike (Jared Harris – who reminded me of the man I fought with in the car park) believes Benjamin to be a 70-odd year old who has never had sex. Similarly, Daisy doesn’t really warm up to Benjamin until they are both in their 30s and 40s because he was “just so old”.
This movie is not a movie for people who have issues when facts of life are messed with - you know the folks who watch Back to the Future and whinge about all the things that should have changed but haven't have changed and the people that should be there or here or whatever. It annoyed me how Benjamin's mental state didn't match his physical state. In Fitzgerald’s original short story, at 12 years old Benjamin enjoyed reading, smoking and drinking and was quickly bored by the things that children do. Nearing the end of his life, short-story Benjamin ends up with shorter and shorter term memory like a child. However, movie Benjamin acts like a child when he looks 85 and suffers from dementia when he looks 12. Its really frustrating because my understanding of dementia it develops in brains that are growing old and are losing connections with the memory centres - not something a normal 12 year- old brain would do.
The Final Verdict
This movie is worth going to the movies to see, but if you don’t make it, don’t stress because the value of this movie is its heart, which will be just as enjoyable when it comes out on DVD. I would also like to finally emphasise how amazing this movie must be in order for me to give it a good review, because after I came out of the movie I found that two of my car’s tyres had been punctured with a screwdriver.
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