Number Nine

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Director: David Fincher

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett




The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has gone back and forth on my top ten list for the last few days. The problem was, it was not as in your face intense as some of the other movies, in neither acting nor plot. It is a much more subtle film in all respects. This is not to say it isn’t an amazing piece of cinema, though.

If you don’t know already, the film concerns the life of a man stricken with a disorder that causes him to age backwards. He is born with the ailments usually associated with the elderly and grows younger and younger until he finally becomes an infant in his old age. The concept of his disorder takes a back seat, however, to the love story that is at the core of the film. Raised in a nursing home, Benjamin falls in love as a young boy with the granddaughter of a resident. We follow them as they find and lose each other over the course of time, finally meeting “in the middle” when their ages balance out in their forties.

First of all, I don’t think you can see this movie and not be impressed by the makeup. Almost every character in the movie is shown at more than one era in their life, and there isn’t a moment where you don’t believe they are actually decades older than when you last saw them. The story is slow, and action is lacking, but that is to be expected and fits the type of movie this is trying to be quite well. All in all, it has a very Forrest Gump meets Big Fish feel. The colors are all golden and quiet, and the editing gives the whole picture a soft feel.

The performances reflect this sensation you get while watching the movie. Brad Pitt is astounding not because he has emotional and intense scenes, but because he plays a character at every stage in his life. Through his mannerisms and facial expression, he imbues the younger Benjamin with child-like wonder that is truly believable. His slow discovery of the world plays out successfully due in large part to Pitt’s performance. Cate Blanchett is a wonder to behold as well, although her acting somehow manages to be even more subtle. All of this subtlety makes it hard to place this film. Other performances of the year were much more riveting and intense, and thus are more memorable, but I can’t completely abandon this film because it is an excellent character study of a boy growing up under fantastic circumstances.

In the end, it is the amazing makeup effects combined with the lead performances that set The Curious Case of Benjamin Button squarely at number nine.