Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton
Director: David Fincher
Category: IIA
In the middle of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the film's protagonist (played by Brad Pitt, with Cate Blanchett, above) is heard lamenting the cruel ways in which fate works as he narrates the sequence of events that left the career of his love, the erstwhile svelte young dancer Daisy (Blanchett), in tatters. His view is that her pain is a result of an amalgamation of missed opportunities. Unfortunately, Benjamin's views are also an apt reflection of the film itself.
Directed by David Fincher it follows the life of Pitt's backwards-ageing Benjamin - from his birth in 1918 (born with the body of an 80-year-old) to his death as a baby in 2003. It's one of the most ambitious films of the past year, boasting enticing imagery, stellar performances from the cast and subtle aspersions for audiences to chew on (one can't help reflecting on the film's political undertones when the dying Daisy in the opening scene tells her daughter the story of a clockmaker's protest about the human cost of the first world war while the New Orleans hospital she's in prepares for the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina).
The storytelling, which involves incessant flashbacks and time shifts, could not be faulted either - and credit should go to screenwriter Eric Roth, for reshaping F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story into a flowing journey through America's history covering the past 90 years. Benjamin Button is as technically masterful as a Hollywood blockbuster could come - but Fincher aficionados will find the film wanting.