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Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The
- Directed by: David Fincher
- Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas, Julia Ormond, Elle Fanning
- Genre: Dramas
-
Rating:
- Rating Reason: for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking
- Theater Release: 12/25/2008
- Video Release: 05/05/2009
- Run Time: 2hr 45min
Synopsis
At once epic in scope and intimate in detail, David Fincher's THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is certainly the director's most emotional film to date (though FIGHT CLUB and SEVEN don't offer much in the way of competition). Loosely based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, this romantic drama tells the tale of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), born in 1918 in New Orleans as a baby with wrinkles, cataracts, and arthritis. Benjamin will age backwards, getting younger as he watches those around him growing older. Included in that group are his adoptive mother, Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), and Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the love of his life whom he meets when she is just a little girl and he is an old man. They age in reverse, but despite Benjamin's globe-trotting adventures, their lives repeatedly intersect.
The script from Oscar winner Eric Roth bears more than a few hallmarks in common with his earlier work on FORREST GUMP: both adaptations cross decades and continents. But BENJAMIN's script or even the fine acting aren't its most impressive accomplishment; the technology--both CGI and makeup--used to make Benjamin and Daisy age are remarkable, and makes the film entirely believable, but they're certainly aided by fine performances from both Pitt and Blanchett. The triumph of technology only serves to underscore the beauty of this film and of the love story at its heart.
At once epic in scope and intimate in detail, David Fincher's THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is certainly the director's most emotional film to date (though FIGHT CLUB and SEVEN don't offer much in the way of competition). Loosely based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, this romantic drama tells the tale of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), born in 1918 in New Orleans as a baby with wrinkles, cataracts, and arthritis. Benjamin will age backwards, getting younger as he watches those around him growing older. Included in that group are his adoptive mother, Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), and Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the love of his life whom he meets when she is just a little girl and he is an old man. They age in reverse, but despite Benjamin's globe-trotting adventures, their lives repeatedly intersect.
The script from Oscar winner Eric Roth bears more than a few hallmarks in common with his earlier work on FORREST GUMP: both adaptations cross decades and continents. But BENJAMIN's script or even the fine acting aren't its most impressive accomplishment; the technology--both CGI and makeup--used to make Benjamin and Daisy age are remarkable, and makes the film entirely believable, but they're certainly aided by fine performances from both Pitt and Blanchett. The triumph of technology only serves to underscore the beauty of this film and of the love story at its heart.
Distributor Notes
Synopsis: “I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans, from the end of World War I in 1918 into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, “Benjamin Button,” is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.
Synopsis: “I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans, from the end of World War I in 1918 into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, “Benjamin Button,” is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.
Reviews
3 stars out of 4 -- "The movie looks amazing....The technical wizardry sweeps you away....[Fincher's] astutely restrained direction fuses ferocity and feeling and creates a world you want to get lost in." (Rolling Stone)
3 stars out of 4 -- "Set in a visually stunning realm of heightened reality....BUTTON is never dull, and the conclusion is graceful and poignant." (USA Today)
"[A] triumph of technique....Mr. Fincher has added a dimension of delicacy and grace to digital filmmaking." (New York Times)
4 stars out of 4 -- "Pitt and Blanchett are outstanding. Fincher's meticulous attention to detail is unerring..." (Premiere)
4 stars out of 5 -- "Pitt's performance is amazingly unadorned and natural..." (Box Office)
"[A]n extravagantly ambitious movie....The movie has been in the works for years, pored over by Fincher like a favorite fairy tale from his childhood." -- Grade: A- (Entertainment Weekly)
5 stars out of 5 -- "That the trick never feels tricksy is partly down to Pitt's gentle, sympathetic performance....A film for the ages..." (Empire)
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n epic of rare scope and scale....Bold and brilliant..." (Total Film)
"[A]n epic tale that contemplates the wonders of life -- of birth and death and, most of all, love....Superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date..." (Hollywood Reporter)
3 stars out of 4 -- "The movie looks amazing....The technical wizardry sweeps you away....[Fincher's] astutely restrained direction fuses ferocity and feeling and creates a world you want to get lost in." (Rolling Stone)
3 stars out of 4 -- "Set in a visually stunning realm of heightened reality....BUTTON is never dull, and the conclusion is graceful and poignant." (USA Today)
"[A] triumph of technique....Mr. Fincher has added a dimension of delicacy and grace to digital filmmaking." (New York Times)
4 stars out of 4 -- "Pitt and Blanchett are outstanding. Fincher's meticulous attention to detail is unerring..." (Premiere)
4 stars out of 5 -- "Pitt's performance is amazingly unadorned and natural..." (Box Office)
"[A]n extravagantly ambitious movie....The movie has been in the works for years, pored over by Fincher like a favorite fairy tale from his childhood." -- Grade: A- (Entertainment Weekly)
5 stars out of 5 -- "That the trick never feels tricksy is partly down to Pitt's gentle, sympathetic performance....A film for the ages..." (Empire)
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n epic of rare scope and scale....Bold and brilliant..." (Total Film)
"[A]n epic tale that contemplates the wonders of life -- of birth and death and, most of all, love....Superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date..." (Hollywood Reporter)
