Warner Bros Pictures
2008 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 46 min
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson
This movie took a lot of crap from the critics and the general populace, who said it was like Forrest Gump with a gimmick. I get that. The whole "Here's some guy's entire life trajectory for your viewing pleasure, with a few chance encounters and tall tales thrown in for kicks." Yeah, there are similar elements.
But when I first saw this movie, before I heard any of that, I really enjoyed it. Sure, it's excessively long, but the concept (loosely based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, the irony there is hillarious) is a fun one to base a love story around. And despite what others say, I think Brad Pitt does just fine as Benjamin Button. Cate Blanchett is, as always, a work of art and wholly untouchable by critical derision. They're not a pair I'd have imagined together, but onscreen you forget that she played an elf queen and he played that gas station attendant in Thelma & Louise. You believe they love each other and that makes this movie work.
Okay, the whole baby as an old man and old man reverse ages to become a baby (and yes, that baby dying scene gets me everytime) is bizarre. If you spend too much time thinking about it, you'll just get pissed off. Accept it for a fancy, Hollywood-ized sci-fi concept blended with an impossible romance and you'll get it. That's all it is, aside from being really, really long...
I loved this movie. I started sniffling when he became a child and she started taking care of him but he couldn't remember her, and was out and out sobbing by the time he was a baby. I don't think I could watch it again anytime soon, but it was beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It makes my heart hurt at the end. Literally, it hurts.
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