The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Obvious Similarities to Forrest Gump

Both screenplays were written by Eric Roth as referenced in Wikipedia. Just as Forrest Gump became a world-wide hit, so does the potential for the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which will surely be due to many of the similarities found in both movies. Eric Roth knew what elements of Forrest Gump were key to its success and clearly had that in mind when writing the Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

In both movies there were young boys who had a disability that bound them to wheelchairs. The wheelchairs in both movies were very similar in style. Both movies had a young girl that the main character begins to fall in love with. Both Forrest Gump and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button have a central mother figure whose death seriously affects the main character. In both movies, the mother is having extramarital affairs. The young girl in both movies grow up to lead unconventional lives with a certain careless disregard to their reputation and integrity. In both movies, the main character comes into a large sum of money after coming from a modest background. The main character does not have ties to their fathers, however in Curious Case of Benjamin Button this is slightly altered by Benjamin meeting his dad in adulthood who is about to die. Benjamin takes care of his new found father during his last days, while Forrest is at his mother's deathbed as well. The main characters both work on ships and both are tied to the army in some capacity. In Forrest Gump, Forrest befriends a fellow army buddy, Bubba, who made an impact on his life -- in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Benjamin befriends the captain of his ship who also dies. Lieutenant Dan introduces Forrest to prostitutes and bars, while it was Captain Mike in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Both main characters travel around the world to different countries, learning life lessons and meeting interesting people along the way. In both movies, the main character gets to spend some time with his long lost love before their relationship is severed in some fashion, and they both have children. Finally, both movies have long running times.

It seems that the journey of life and its common life problems and situations are the keys to success in both movies. Audiences admire the qualities of characters that they do not have themselves and like to watch movies that are complete from beginning to end. It is sure that this movie will become a long-term success.

Sources

Eric Roth - Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Roth

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curious_Case_of_Benjamin_Button_(film)

Forrest Gump - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump_(film)