The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Review by Loc

In the case of Benjamin Button, it’s not curiosity that consumes the film, but rather, time. Time, in the most literal sense: Benjamin Button ages backwards in a mysterious, unexplained way. Time, in the existential sense: how does one rectify the conundrum of love and loss? Time, in the sense of restlessness: it’s a three-hour movie! Quick hit: Benjamin Button is a solid flick, solid.

As you may have heard, Brad Pitt has the power to de-age in this film. As a newborn of the 1920s, Pitt is a wrinkly, ossified infant, one that doctors believe won’t survive too long. Yet, through little explanation and little exposition, Pitt slowly grows younger. First, as a tiny, chair-bound child who looks 80 years old to a crutch wielding adolescent who resembles a 70 year old. You can continue to play this game through Pitt’s 20s, 30s, and 40s, where he finally reaches the midpoint of his life and looks like Brad Pitt does today.

The story that follows along the special effects is nothing out of the ordinary. Yes, Pitt is growing up backwards, but his adventures are not all that notable. In his early adolescence, he meets a young girl named Daisy. Daisy would end up being an integral part of his life, semi-star-crossed lovers when age appropriateness takes place. Besides that, Pitt’s major life event is hopping on a tugboat and working through WWII as part of the crew. As he’s just entering his twenties, he looks 60, meets up with some characters, and learns the ways of life, as a naïve 60 year old. Eh.

The real core of the story revolves around Pitt’s love. As he finally reaches an age of maturity, his body also reaches a socially acceptable age, and he pursues the childhood love in Daisy. What follows is a plain courtship where Daisy’s own ambitions are stifled at the perfect time. With her dreams dashed, why not hook up with Brad Pitt? I know I would.

However, what should have been the major crux of the story appears late in the film. How does Pitt’s de-aging affect the life he can lead? Surely, he can fall in love and be a husband…for a while. But, can he be a father? And for how long? And what struggles will this cause for wife and baby? Ahh, the real questions, too bad they’re answered as simply as Pitt’s de-aging: not all that much. Sure, issues are dealt with, but we don’t see the true struggles to overcome these issues. And that’s a shame, because this is really where the story could have held a lot of weight.

Coincidentally or not, these issues are covered quickly onscreen. Is it because Young Brad Pitt is much harder to pull off than wrinkly Brad Pitt? Young Brad Pitt is always in shot in shadows or soft lighting. And the shadows are annoying as hell. Sure, a couple scenes may look moody and artsy, but every single face shot being draped in darkness sucks. I guess no matter how much pancake makeup you use, making a 45 year old look 25 is hard. However, spending 2 hours on Pitt’s first 40 years of life, then 30 minutes on the next 30 kinda sucks.

As Benjamin Button, Pitt is solid. I’m not sure how hard it is to speak in a creaky voice for over half the movie, and really, the body doubles and special effects do a remarkable job of bringing Benjamin to life. But this is the type of role that suits the compassionate, caring Pitt persona, and it works fine.

Cate Blanchette plays adult Daisy, and she does a very good job as well. She looks very legitimate as a professional dancer, at least from these untrained eyes. As she moves into her relationship with Pitt, there’s a noticeable distance that leaves the relationship a little less magical and moving. Maybe it’s the way we would all react, but it makes it less of a tragic fairytale if we can’t see the connection between the two.

Overall, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a mixed bag. It’s a solid story, but it’s a long movie to sit through. It’s paced extremely slow, which gives you time to embrace Pitt’s Benjamin, but leaves the more compelling aspect of growing young in old age as an afterthought. The acting is good, but they’re almost like individual performances and don’t offer true connections between the characters that the audience can gravitate towards. It’s pretty good and worth seeing, but it’s not necessarily astounding. Out of 88 years, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button grows up to 61 years old before running out of steam. It might win some awards, but there should be better stuff out there.