The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

[Viin]

Actors: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett

Rotten Tomato: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/curious_case_of_benjamin_button/ (73%)
Trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/thecuriouscaseofbenjaminbutton/

Director David Fincher and Brad Pitt team up for a third time with this adaptation of a F. Scott Fitzgerald short story. Pitt plays a man who is born 80 years old, but instead of aging, he grows...  Director David Fincher and Brad Pitt team up for a third time with this adaptation of a F. Scott Fitzgerald short story. Pitt plays a man who is born 80 years old, but instead of aging, he grows young.

Saw this yesterday, a pretty good movie. Not an action film by any means, but not a snorer either. A bit long (2.5 hrs?). I'm surprised you Pitt lovers haven't posted this already!

[ashrik]

It was a good movie, it certainly had it's moments.

I cannot get over how weird the relationship between Pitt and Blanchett felt. In fact, the best word I can use to describe it is "weird". Forced or arbitrary might be another. At no point did it seem natural until they met in the middle. Then it got weird again.

[ahoythematey]

Spoilers, I guess?

I thought the movie was great.  I like how they played the relationship, as two people who connected immediately and very much love one another, but find themselves continuing to hurt each other, sometimes unexpectedly.  Once they actually do reconnect fully, their love is all the sweeter for the missed moments.  I felt the movie really showed the tragedy of when people love one another and have love for each other so much, without resorting too much into melodrama.  Ben's love for Daisy, Daisy's love for Ben, their love for their daughter, what they would do for each other.

Perhaps I'm reading a bit too much into it, but that is what I got out of the movie.  I also think Cate Blanchett is just too beautiful for words.

[Chenghiz]

Without going into too much repetitive detail, I really really liked this movie. Really seemed like a cut above the normal trite crap.

Does anyone know if the story about the clock is true? That would be really cool, but I suspect it isn't true. ):

[Nebu]

Saw this last night.  Was a solid movie that entertained (I never felt the movie was dragging).  Sadly, I really felt that the movie missed some key opportunities for solid story. 

The best description I can give is that I enjoyed the movie, but when I left the theater I couldn't really articulate why.  My expectations were low when I went and the movie surpassed those expectations.  I did want more from the storyline than I was given though. 

Rating: Go see.  Decent date movie.

[Brogarn]

I liked it well enough but thought the relationship didn't make any sense. Two completely different people and neither the wife nor I could figure out what Benjamin saw in Daisy. Plus, there's a couple of creepy parts that you have to remind yourself of his true age.

[Ookii]

I'd also like to add that this movie needs to be seen in the comfort of your own home, I couldn't imagine having to sit through it in the theater.

[pxib]

It's pretty much the anti-Forrest Gump (penned by the same screenwriter). Rather than a relentlessly ordinary protagonist living a life of extrodinary events which he lacks the depth and wisdom to appreciate, we have an extrordinary protagonist living a relentlessly ordinary life from which he plumbs a great deal... but DOES NOT SHARE THE MAJORITY OF IT WITH THE AUDIENCE. Zemeckis directed Gump fast-paced and zany. Fincher directs Button at a slower, more thoughtful clip. Almost everyone he meets is more interesting than Benjamin, and personally I would have rather seen a film about just about any of them than the man himself.

Not that I wasn't entertained... but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching an excellent two-hour movie that meandered along for three hours.

[Hoax]

1.  This movie is 3 hours long.

2.  Every hospital scene and section narrated by an old woman was so fucking annoying I wanted to smack someone.

3.  Anyone want to explain Katrina to me?  I mean, there had to have been some symbology at work there right?  I have no idea what is was.

[Nebu]

3.  Anyone want to explain Katrina to me?  I mean, there had to have been some symbology at work there right?  I have no idea what is was.

My take was that Katrina occurred because of the events of forward and backward time happening simultaneously (i.e. her dying symbolized the return of time to normal).

I have a feeling I'm grossly overthinking things.

[Broughden]

It's pretty much the anti-Forrest Gump (penned by the same screenwriter). Rather than a relentlessly ordinary protagonist living a life of extrodinary events which he lacks the depth and wisdom to appreciate, we have an extrordinary protagonist living a relentlessly ordinary life from which he plumbs a great deal... but DOES NOT SHARE THE MAJORITY OF IT WITH THE AUDIENCE. Zemeckis directed Gump fast-paced and zany. Fincher directs Button at a slower, more thoughtful clip. Almost everyone he meets is more interesting than Benjamin, and personally I would have rather seen a film about just about any of them than the man himself.

Not that I wasn't entertained... but I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching an excellent two-hour movie that meandered along for three hours.

Yeah but I have no idea how this ended up as a Golden Globe nominee for Best Picture of the Year over Batman or Milk or many others. That is insane.

[Tarami]

It gets a "meh" from me.

It felt unsatisfying to watch. It's diffuse, lacks clear focus. Just as you think that the plotlines will interact with eachother, they very abruptly end and the film jumps head-first onto the next story. Ben's love for Daisy is from the appearances paper-thin, nothing he does seems to be related to that love. He gladly risks his life in WWII and screws around like a rabbit without having as much as a second thought about it. For all the postcards she appears to have received, we see just one actually being delivered (which, obviously, is the one where he practically tells her to fuck off. Way to go Romero!) For being the only clear motivator in his life, it's incredibly lame.

Also, like a friend said, it ties very badly to the historical backdrop. Aside from the world wars, he appears to live in a vacuum in time where the world happenings of the age don't affect him, because he never acknowledges the outside society. No, the ordinary person doesn't make much of alot of things, but we, as an audience, needs to have them acknowledged to be able to relate. All things considered, if it's the 1930's or the 1960's has no impact on his life. He claims that he's changing, but the world around him seems to be the same as it always were. Only fashion and cars change. Even the death of his adoptive mother whistles by without making as much as a ripple in his character.

Once done watching, it felt like a disjointed mess that didn't deliver half the relevance as Forrest Gump did. Gump, atleast, seemed to coparticipate in his age and engage in his fellow people, even if it was in an exaggerated and overdramatic manner.

MEH! Rant over.

[stray]

Heh. The poster idea they scrapped.

[schild]

That's disgusting.

[Samwise]

symbology

[Amarr HM]

The genius of this movie is that the moral of the story was to savour every minute of your life while simultaneuosly sapping away three hours of your life.

[Tarami]

Well put, sir.

[Brogarn]

Well put, sir.

Indeed.