Popcorn & a Movie

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a majestic epic, fascinating in its virtue and extraordinary in its execution. It’s lifted from a 40-page short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and transformed into a nearly 3-hour, multi-decade spanning epic by Oscar winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump). It’s personified in equal parts by director David Fincher and his favorite celluloid subject Brad Pitt, each trampolining from a career of films trendy and cool (Se7en and Fight Club, collaboratively) into something grander, more classical, and more Oscar worthy. It’s a film about life and death, love and understanding, pulled through the prism of a story about a man who aged backwards. It’s an adventure, and in it’s heart, a crowd pleaser. It’s Mom’s comfort food, with a 5 star presentation.
And what a presentation. First and foremost, Benjamin Button is an awe-inspiring technical achievement. Seeing Brad Pitt stumbling around as a shrunken old man of no more than 4 feet is as amazing an FX feat as you’re likely to see all year. The make up smothering Cate Blanchet as she withers away in a New Orleans hospital smack in the middle of Katrina (a pungent framing device for this romanticized tale), the terrorizing experience of even the briefest WWII navel battle – it’s all accomplished with seamless, too-real-to-be-otherwise technicality. These are the wonders of modern technology when it’s used to portray an honest reality, and not simply to create smashing Hulks and transforming robots.
But while these achievements are miraculous, it is the polite, inviting southern sprawl of the story that really pulls us in. Like writer Roth’s most enduring, Gumpy character, Button is different, unique, his story broad and adventurous. We are fascinated by his creation, excited by his journey, washed over by the warmth of his tale. In fact, when it really comes down to it, Button as a movie is Gump in new garments. The acting is just as strong, if not stronger, the era production as impressive. It even shares the same fascination with a complicated soul mate relationship (Blanchet is in the “Jenny” role, and is as good as ever).
The one wild card, really, is Fincher. This may be Pitt’s finest all-around performance to date, but it’s Fincher’s showcase. Everything he does here is beautiful – perfectly shot, expertly framed, and submitted with that trademark off-color tint that give his films such unique darkness. The first 30 minutes or so of his last film, Zodiac, were stunning in their craft. With Button, he expands, never lets that execution slip. It is truly his masterpiece.
As far as the great movies of 08 go, Button is up there. Is it the best film of the year gone by? Maybe. At the least, it is certainly one of the most impressive and enjoyable.