The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

David Fincher

Writers (WGA):

Eric Roth (screenplay)
Eric Roth (screen story) ...

Release Date:

25 December 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments

Plot:

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

Plot Keywords:

Diary | Aging | Button | New Orleans | Hospital

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 28 wins & 66 nominations

Cast

Cate Blanchett	...	Daisy
Julia Ormond	...	Caroline
Faune A. Chambers	...	Dorothy Baker
Elias Koteas	...	Monsieur Gateau
Donna DuPlantier	...	Blanche Devereux
Jacob Tolano	...	Martin Gateau (as Jacob Wood)
Earl Maddox	...	Man at Train Station
Ed Metzger	...	Teddy Roosevelt
Jason Flemyng	...	Thomas Button
Danny Vinson	...	Priest Giving Last Rites
David Jensen	...	Doctor at Benjamin's Birth
Joeanna Sayler	...	Caroline Button
Taraji P. Henson	...	Queenie
Mahershalalhashbaz Ali	...	Tizzy
Fiona Hale	...	Mrs. Hollister

Also Known As:

Benjamin Button (USA) (working title)
The Curious Case (International: English title) (informal short title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking.

Runtime:

166 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44743) | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | UK:12A | Ireland:12A | Czech Republic:12 | Singapore:PG | New Zealand:M | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Brazil:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:6 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Chile:Y7 | Argentina:13 | Peru:14 | Spain:T | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Sweden:11 | Mexico:B | Austria:10 | Denmark:11 | Germany:12 | France:U | Iceland:7 | Sweden:7

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The look that David Fincher, visual-effects supervisor Eric Barba and special makeup-effects artist Greg Cannom devised for Benjamin as a child resemble the later stages of progeria, a condition technically named Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, a rare disease that makes its young sufferers appear aged. Those who didn't attend medical school may be most familiar with it from the Ralph Macchio TV movie The Three Wishes of Billy Grier (1984) (TV). And Robin Williams had a fictional version of progeria in Jack (1996).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Benjamin is sailing his father's sailboat on Lake Pontchartrain about 1962. It is a classic wooden vessel correct for the time period but has been outfitted with modern Harken brand ball bearing blocks (pulleys) that hadn't been invented yet. Harken blocks were introduced in 1968 for small racing dinghies. The type needed for a keel boat of that size weren't marketed until the early 70s.

Quotes:

Benjamin Button: What if I told you that instead of gettin' older, I was gettin' younger than everybody else?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Parks and Recreation: Rock Show (#1.6)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

THAT'S HOW RHYTHM WAS BORN

very affecting film

I just saw Benjamin Buttons in a preview and left it very moved. It certainly was not the film I was expecting to see. The characters and story hit at a deep level.

The distractions to the astonishing tale are mostly technical -- the level of art direction is so high that it sometimes almost pulls you out of the plot. Scenes in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, particularly, are exquisitely mounted and detailed at a level I've never before seen in a movie. Vast scenes are mounted -- war scenes, events in cities and towns with huge numbers of celebrants, exteriors on the sea, in the snow, in wonderful old towns with every detail in place, leaving you -- or me, at least -- utterly dazzled.

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are outstanding character actors, though they're invariably positioned as Hollywood glamour figures. That's just a distraction; they're terrific technical actors, capable of a great range of characters and complex scenes. And they're both tremendously empathetic: one feels what they're depicting. There's nothing magical about that, they're just highly skilled, and thoroughly deserve the positions they've achieved in the film world. This title was made for them: complicated, filled with inner contradictions, and of course there's the age range -- we see their lives spanning decades.

Indicative of the careful and detailed production is the way, early on, that historic scenes are presented. Rather than simply cutting back to earlier times, the film presents scenes from the teens and early 20's as though they were old movies, complete with erratic exposure and scratched emulsion. BUT they are in (rather washed-out) color. It works. You feel as though you are seeing authentic moments from a much earlier time.

I saw the film with a friend who works in the effects industry. His first comments at the end had to do with the high level of digital work, as well as its pervasive use. Yet I think few viewers will even be aware that the film is absolutely filled with visual effects. That there is a truly ancient old man (near the beginning) walking around with Brad Pitt's features, certain suggests some visual magic. But it's far more subtle than anything most films have presented. Generally the effects don't call attention to themselves. They simply anchor the film in an earlier time, and you buy the fact that, somehow, you're seeing the world as it was long ago, at a far deeper level than sets and costumes provide.

Only time will tell, but it seems to me that this is a film that will be watched for a very long time.