The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Year: 2008
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Cate Blanchett & Brad Pitt
Runtime: 166 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 08/03/23
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Cate Blanchett & Brad Pitt
Runtime: 166 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 08/03/23
'It's never too late, or in my case too early, to be who you want to be.' - Benjamin Button
I think it’s fair to say that David Fincher tends to make a particular kind of film. Up to this point in my retrospective review series Fincher has made Alien 3, Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, and Zodiac. Aside from Alien 3, every single one of those films is a moody crime thriller that usually showcases graphic violence, narrative misdirection, and some nifty camerawork, and this continued through the rest of his filmography aside from one or two cases. So, I think it’s fair to forget that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a David Fincher film. Based on the 1922 F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, Benjamin Button is so far removed from Fincher’s usual filmography that it’s difficult to compare to what’s come before…and with that, here’s my review of the century-spanning fantasy romance.
The eleventh of November 1918 was an extraordinary day for two reasons, World War I came to a ceasefire, and Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) was born. Abandoned by his father (Jason Flemyng), Benjamin was born with an extraordinary condition which causes him to age in reverse. Raised by Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) in a retirement home, Benjamin develops a very different relationship to death than just about anybody, giving him a greater appreciation for life and its many surprises. Daisy Fuller (Cate Blanchett) and Benjamin frequently pass through each other’s lives, seemingly never on the same timeline, until they share a love that is just as passionate and fleeting as life itself.
The eleventh of November 1918 was an extraordinary day for two reasons, World War I came to a ceasefire, and Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) was born. Abandoned by his father (Jason Flemyng), Benjamin was born with an extraordinary condition which causes him to age in reverse. Raised by Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) in a retirement home, Benjamin develops a very different relationship to death than just about anybody, giving him a greater appreciation for life and its many surprises. Daisy Fuller (Cate Blanchett) and Benjamin frequently pass through each other’s lives, seemingly never on the same timeline, until they share a love that is just as passionate and fleeting as life itself.
Bearing little resemblance to Fitzgerald’s original story, aside from the ageing backwards element, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a touching tale about death and appreciating every moment of life. But clocking it at just shy of two hours and fifty minutes it’s a long one. Fincher really takes his time to let scenes breathe in Benjamin Button and whilst it is an admirable feat to try and condense eighty years of life into a three-hour film, the pacing is a little all over the place.
It takes almost an hour for Benjamin’s entire childhood to go by, with the middle hour spent dedicated to his twenties and early thirties, and the final hour whizzes through almost fifty years in the blink of an eye. Benjamin’s childhood is designed in such a way where keeping track of how much time is passing is rather difficult, which make scenes such as him getting a job on a tug boat and losing his virginity difficult to process because it seems that Benjamin is no older than twelve at the time.
The film then spends an extraordinary amount of time on Benjamin’s relationship with Elizabeth Abbott (Tilda Swinton), and his pining for Daisy in her wild early twenties. Only to shift into high gear for Benjamin’s mid-life through to death which is really a shame. We spend no time at all with Benjamin once his forties are through, instead shifting focus onto Daisy, and then by the time Benjamin does re-appear in the story he’s only got a few years left to live, the body of a young boy and a mind riddled with dementia. I wish this section of the story had been given more time as I feel it’s far more interesting than the half hour or so we spend with Elizabeth and Benjamin’s affair.
Then there’s also the whole meta narrative, the one of a Daisy on her death bed having Benjamin’s diary read to her by her daughter, Caroline (Julia Ormond), during the onset of Hurricane Katrina. Whilst I understand the choice to have the story framed as diary entries from Benjamin in order to highlight the most important parts of his life, I don’t understand what Katrina has to do with any of it and it feels so out of place and tacked on.
It takes almost an hour for Benjamin’s entire childhood to go by, with the middle hour spent dedicated to his twenties and early thirties, and the final hour whizzes through almost fifty years in the blink of an eye. Benjamin’s childhood is designed in such a way where keeping track of how much time is passing is rather difficult, which make scenes such as him getting a job on a tug boat and losing his virginity difficult to process because it seems that Benjamin is no older than twelve at the time.
The film then spends an extraordinary amount of time on Benjamin’s relationship with Elizabeth Abbott (Tilda Swinton), and his pining for Daisy in her wild early twenties. Only to shift into high gear for Benjamin’s mid-life through to death which is really a shame. We spend no time at all with Benjamin once his forties are through, instead shifting focus onto Daisy, and then by the time Benjamin does re-appear in the story he’s only got a few years left to live, the body of a young boy and a mind riddled with dementia. I wish this section of the story had been given more time as I feel it’s far more interesting than the half hour or so we spend with Elizabeth and Benjamin’s affair.
Then there’s also the whole meta narrative, the one of a Daisy on her death bed having Benjamin’s diary read to her by her daughter, Caroline (Julia Ormond), during the onset of Hurricane Katrina. Whilst I understand the choice to have the story framed as diary entries from Benjamin in order to highlight the most important parts of his life, I don’t understand what Katrina has to do with any of it and it feels so out of place and tacked on.
Benjamin Button doesn’t really look like much of a Fincher film either. You can absolutely see some of his signature stylings at work, but he tends to favour practicality with Benjamin Button rather than artistic framing and camerawork. It feels static, plain, functional. It’s not bad, but it lacks that flair that Fincher so often has with his films, particularly from Panic Room onwards.
Especially in the first hour of the film it feels like almost all of the attention has gone into the CGI work necessary to make Benjamin’s transformation convincing. For 2008 this was ahead of the curve but watching it in 2023 it does look extremely rubbery. Digital ageing tech has improved vastly since its implementation here, but credit where it’s due, no project had ever been as ambitious with the ageing and de-aging as Benjamin Button, and I don’t think anything ever has been since. It’s just a shame that this focus on technology has adversely affected other areas of the film.
I feel like I’ve done nothing but rag on this film, but I do actually quite enjoy Benjamin Button. I think Pitt, Blanchett, and Henson’s performances are outstanding, and I love the dialogue so much. It’s a very endearing tale, and if anything, I wish it could have been longer so I could have spent more time with Benjamin. But I honestly think that this would have worked better as a six-hour mini-series, rather than a three-hour film.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a curious case indeed. It doesn’t feel or look like a Fincher film in all the ways that really count, and the pacing is peculiar at best. But it is a film with a lot to love, and the way in which it deals with death is rather unique. Is it worth watching? Absolutely. But it’s arguably one of Fincher’s weakest films because of how at odds a lot of the films components are with each other.
Especially in the first hour of the film it feels like almost all of the attention has gone into the CGI work necessary to make Benjamin’s transformation convincing. For 2008 this was ahead of the curve but watching it in 2023 it does look extremely rubbery. Digital ageing tech has improved vastly since its implementation here, but credit where it’s due, no project had ever been as ambitious with the ageing and de-aging as Benjamin Button, and I don’t think anything ever has been since. It’s just a shame that this focus on technology has adversely affected other areas of the film.
I feel like I’ve done nothing but rag on this film, but I do actually quite enjoy Benjamin Button. I think Pitt, Blanchett, and Henson’s performances are outstanding, and I love the dialogue so much. It’s a very endearing tale, and if anything, I wish it could have been longer so I could have spent more time with Benjamin. But I honestly think that this would have worked better as a six-hour mini-series, rather than a three-hour film.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a curious case indeed. It doesn’t feel or look like a Fincher film in all the ways that really count, and the pacing is peculiar at best. But it is a film with a lot to love, and the way in which it deals with death is rather unique. Is it worth watching? Absolutely. But it’s arguably one of Fincher’s weakest films because of how at odds a lot of the films components are with each other.