Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button is in the unique position that he was born an old man and ages backwards. This is an interesting concept, done especially well in F. Scott Fitzgerald's original short story, but the film embellishes so many details that we linger too long on an easy to grasp concept and not long enough on what makes Benjamin Button a human being.

The original text was very different from the film. The only real similarity is Benjamin Button (played by Brad Pitt) and his condition. In the story, he is raised by his father, and there is a moral, physical, and philosophical problem when the child looks older than his father, and then they look like brothers, and then finally they swap back to how they should look. The film, instead, has Benjamin's mother die in childbirth and the father abandons him on a doorstep. This is a step backwards, going from an original idea into a comfortable stereotype that people will seem to 'bond' with.

The film is also told in flashbacks as Elizabeth, in a hospital in New Orleans just before Katrina, is visited by her daughter. The daughter reads Daisy the journal that Benjamin left her while he was still old (or, young) enough to write. What a tried and boring premise, honestly. The story would have been significantly better if it was just told straight with voice-over from Benjamin. The narration doesn't need to be justified. Like Nike: Just do it.

Part of me wishes I had not read the original text, because having done so, it is very easy to find flaws in the film. Fitzgerald knew that the aging backwards concept could not carry a whole novel, just as it cannot carry a 2.5 hour film. Fitzgerald made his work short, whereas director David Fincher (whom I usually enjoy immensely) and screenwriter Eric Roth (Munich, Forrest Gump) didn't pick up on that thought.

There are many good moments in the film, which I guess corresponds to the film's tagline: "Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments." The film doesn't take off until Benjamin meets Daisy, who is mentally the same age as Benjamin, but aging naturally. She senses a connection to him, and despite his appearance, she knows that they are alike.

The heart of the story is muddled at best, with some focus being paid to Daisy as she gets older (and turns into the lovely Cate Blanchett) and Benjamin gets younger. Benjamin realizes what it is like to do solid work (he was not a lively energetic kid, remember, but a crippled old adult for his younger years). Daisy goes to become a professional dancer. As much time as we spend with the characters in the film, their actions never make sense. With any character, what they do does not have to be something we, the audience, would do, but we should never doubt that the character is capable of something. Why do Benjamin and Daisy continue to elude each other? Even if they can't figure it out, we should be able to.

In summary, the film feels flat. Fincher and Roth attempt to make a grandiose film about one man's entire life, but they only ponder on the surface level issues of Benjamin's case. The elements were in the original text, and why they didn't carry them over, I have no idea.

Rating: 4.5/7