The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

So here's the thing about Benjamin Button, he's living life in reverse - oh and it's a very long life. Well...that's pretty much the gist of it. I did like it though. The way I felt about this movie was much the same way I felt about Forrest Gump. You COULD make it into a two hour movie that makes sense and gets the point across, but when the ride is so much fun, why bother?

The movie starts out in a hospital room with Daisy, love of Ben's life, and her daughter. Daisy is clearly near death and wants to hear her daughter read from a diary by her bedside. Daisy starts by telling the story of a clockmaker who, while building a clock for a train station, loses a son in the war. He ends up building a clock that moves in reverse because his only desire is for time to reverse and his son will be back from the dead. Sure, the story isn't explicitly necessary, but it's a nice story that sums up the theme of the entire movie quite nicely.

Daisy's daughter then begins reading the diary to daisy. It starts by telling the story of Benjamin's parents and the story of his birth. As you might have guessed, Benjamin is the size of an infant with the face and body of a elderly man complete with arthritis. How his mom dies in childbirth and his father, unable to look at his odd son, puts him on the steps of a retirement/boarding house. Queenie, the lady who runs the boarding house takes him in thinking he'll probably die soon anyway and the rest, as they say, is history.

We are taken through Benjamin's entire life, a large part of which is devoted to Daisy. We watch him learn about unnatural death during WWII while working on a tugboat (a great job by Jared Harris as Captain Mike), we watch as his father comes back into his life, and we watch some heartbreaking decisions he must make regarding his family.

There are some criticims, however. Daisy telling the story from her deathbed isn't the most original plot device every used - with that said, however, it fits the themes of mortality and doing what can while you can so it is forgiveable. The old woman in the hospital is a mystery for about 30 minutes and I'm not sure what that accomplishes. I also understand the length criticism that probably exists in many a review. I loved the ride and wanted it to last even longer than it did. Other positives are: Makeup, Score, Fincher, Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, and Jared Harris.

In the end, I miss grand storytelling and that is exactly what this gives me. I'll grant you that I probably overlooked some criticisms because it's been a few years since I've seen decent "Grand" storytelling. I give the film a solid 1:


Now get the hell off the internet and watch a movie.