The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Directed by: David Fincher | 166 minutes | drama, romance, fantasy | Actors: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Elle Fanning, Jason Flemyng, Julia Ormond, Julia Ormond, Faune A. Chambers, Elias Koteas, Taraji P. Henson, Josh Stewart, Spencer Daniels, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Patrick Holland, Chandler Canterbury , Peter Donald Badalamenti II, Madisen Beaty, Ed Metzger

That’s a nice way to start the new year. 166 minutes David Fincher, that could be worse. The director did not make many films, but rarely disappointed. ‘Se7en’, ‘Fight Club’ and the more recent ‘Zodiac’ were entertainment of the highest order and without a doubt left us wanting more. With the fanciful ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, Fincher leaves the chilling thrillers and so-called mindfucks for what it is. But this genre also seems to suit him. The film received thirteen Oscar nominations and with good reason. In ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ the title hero, played by Brad Pitt, suffers from a special phenomenon. He is born an old man and then does not grow older physically, but younger. His childhood is anything but normal. When asked how old he is, he neatly says he is seven, but adds, “but I look much older”. Everyone laughs. Benjamin is mistaken for an elderly person, but is still just a child. A child who wants to grow up just like any other child, but who will never see that wish come true.

The elderly toddler Benjamin immediately conquers the viewer’s heart. He moves clumsily, looks vulnerable and yet, in his conspicuousness, he is almost invisible. He watches, records and learns. Benjamin grows, all in his own way. He is endearing, even in old age – when he gets younger. He continues to struggle to fit into the world. He never succeeds. Benjamin remains an outsider. Pitt plays this role in a very subtle way – by Hollywood standards. He never falls into the trap of overacting and he never loses his vulnerable character. Call it chilly or cold, but for lovers of the slightly less thick sentiment that is really a relief. Blanchett, perhaps the actress of today, is also doing an excellent job as Benjamin’s great love. She grows up as an ordinary child, does what ‘normal’ people do, but because of her love for Benjamin she finds herself between two different worlds. Her insecurities, wishes and disappointments exist as apparently simple expressions, which means that Blanchett measures herself well against her opponent.

The beautiful images, the fantastic sets, costumes and the atmospheric ragtime and New Orleans jazz do the rest. But nowhere does the film try to transcend the story. For a fantastic drama of two and three quarters of an hour, it remains a relatively sober spectacle. So with both feet on the ground, where attention to the beauty and transience of things always remains in the first place. ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is Hollywood at its finest. Big and catchy, but with few cheesy moments or cheap effects. It takes the skill of a top director like David Fincher to achieve that. The nostalgia that permeates the film quickly imposes itself on the viewer. Everything is changeable. Beauty does not last and times change. One minute you’re right and the next it’s gone. When you walk out of the cinema you can imagine yourself in another world for 166 minutes, but once outside it is all really over. Then maybe just dream away for a while in those bygone times.