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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
When you think of special effects laden films most people think of giant explosions, digital aliens and amazing stunts. The The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has none of these, and yet it is one of the most special effects laden films of the year. The effects aren't based around action and excitment, but around creating a visually stunning piece of cinema. Oh, and also to make Brad Pitt into a wizened old man and a 20-year-old youth.
See in Benjamin Button, which is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born old and grows young, and while this is curious enough the film's story is really more about a man living his life than about the oddity that is aging backwards. That's probably the most remarkable thing about the film; instead of being about the strangeness of Button's condition it is about love, life and the adventures we have. Yes, eventually Button's backward aging causes problems in his life, but it isn't until late in the film.
The beauty is that by having a character age backward the film can take us through the highs and lows of life with a different perspective that is both fresh and revitalizing. Button learns to walk, but it is from a wheelchair. He sets out to sea, but not as a young man seeking adventure, but as an old man trying to find life. He falls in love for the first time when he's in his 60s, meaning his first romance is a true and serious one. It's a wonderful look at how we grow up through the eyes of someone growing down.
Of course the epic nature of the film, captured perfectly by the experienced eye of Ron Howard, also documents the growth of America and the world. Button is drawn through wars and more as he ages downward. His ever changing persona perfectly reflecting the era that his is un-aging in. The film is small in its focus on a man, but epic in its scope on the world.
For those who continually claim that Brad Pitt is just a pretty face, and he does give plenty of performances to support that argument, Benjamin Button should end the their belief. Although for much of the film his face is digitally altered and at times even put on someone else's body (if someone can explain how the do this, please do) he nails Button. By the time he is twenty, walking in off the street like he just left the set of Thelma and Louise, he's captured the character perfectly. His young face is somehow still racked with age. More suprisingly though is the fact that Brad Pitt isn't the best looking or acting person in the film. Cate Blanchett easily steals the show, looking more beautiful than she has ever done before, and playing Daisy, Button's life long love, with amazing grace.
Even without these performances the film would still be worthwhile. Visually this is simply a movie that must be seen. You could watch the entire film on silent and still enjoy everything. Not only are the special effects some of the most stunning around, especially because they are so subtle, but Howard captures every aspect of Button's life with a depth that is reminiscent of Citizen Kane. Yes, I've envoked the name of the greatest film ever made, and Benjamin Button deserves it in terms of art direction.
In fact the only complaint I can levy at this entirely gorgous film is that it knows it is doing everything so well and loves to revel in it, possibly a bit too much. At points the film could have used some editing, but it is one of those situations where I couldn't tell you what part I wanted shortened. Is Benjamin Button the best film of the year? I'm not sure, but it is definitely good enough to be.
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