Movie Review: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The interesting concept of aging backwards and Cate Blanchett are what brought me to the theaters today to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The trailers were intriguing. Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button, a man born under curious circumstances. His is born old and grows backwards. Cate Blanchett is the love interest, Daisy and - aging in opposite directions - they meet in the middle.

This neat idea did not reach its full potential. While Pitt and Blanchett's performances were wonderful, the storyline was slow, boring, and even coniving - if not manipulative - in parts. Not a single character in the picture has any morals and without morals there is no real purpose for any characters actions. The result is a somewhat interesting but highly unfulfilling film.

The plot is very loose and all points in the movie that attempt at being "deep" or "touching" seem unfinished. The flashbacks of a crazy old man's seven experiencesof being struck by lighting are probably the funniest parts of the film (certainly the only parts where all of the audience laughed), but even though the old man gives an explanation by finally saying it's made him appreciate that he's lucky to be alive, it still seems rather random. Likewise a humming bird flying up to Benjamin in the middle of the ocean is - I guess - some sort of metaphor. A humming bird appears again at the end of the film when Daisy dies. What's with the humming bird? Bejamin's strange state of aging backwards is also somehow linked to a clock that goes backwards, but it is never explained how or why!

The movie is set in New Orleans and is all a flashback from Benjamin's diary. Benjamin's daughter is reading the diary to her dying mother, Daisy and all while hurricane Katrina is coming. The hurricane is another random addition to the plot, serving no real purpose but to add a moody stormy window to the background of the hospital scenes.

Still, asides from being a very ugly looking old man, Brad Pitt did a good job and the make up for his aging was well done except for a few parts where it seemed clearly computer generated. On the other hand, his role probably could have been fillled by another actor easily.

Cate Blanchett is the star of the show, despite not being the title character. She is stunning as the red haired ballerina and it is obvious she has had some ballet training!

At last, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is not one worth paying to see in the theaters. I think perhaps that the writers thought the concept so brilliant they failed to develop it fully.