The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Since there has been such a lull in posts of the Everyman Critics i thought that i might start to post reviews of some movies that i've watched over the past year that i have yet to either thrust upon my fellow Everyman or have thought were noteworthy and should be watched.

-dan

In keeping with the most recent post of the 2010 Oscars i thought i'd like look back to last years nominees and winner of Best Picture. Today's movie reunited the tag team of David Fincher and Brad Pitt which put together a dynamite movie in 1999: Fight Club. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is nowhere near as tight a movie as Fight Club, but then there is no reason to remake such a great movie. This movie reminds me of one of this year's nominees for best picture and one which a certain member of our group ranted about on a previous episode: Avatar. Now i haven't seen Avatar yet, but both movies seem to have a common thread. That thread being really "pretty" graphics with a "poignant" story that is way too long. Like i said before you stone me...i haven't seen Avatar, but one of the reasons i didn't go see it in theaters was it's 2 1/2 hour running time. However, i won't hesitate to sit through this entire film. Let the hate mail flood in...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
TIME: 166 minutes
GENRE: Drama
MPAA RATING: PG-13
LANGUAGE: English
DIRECTOR: David Fincher
STARRING:
Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson

RATING: 4/10

OVERVIEW:
Benjamin Button is a man who was born at the end of WWI as an old man who ages in reverse.

REVIEW:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a novel idea that could make a very interesting short story. Well, actually it is based off of a short story, but was somehow made it into a 2 1/2 hour long movie. It reminds me a bit of Forrest Gump only Benjamin Button is not developmentally slow. It won 3 Academy Awards (Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effects) which were deserved, but that is the problem with this movie: it looks pretty, but lacks any real substance. though there is still one scene that sticks in my mind even though i watched a year or so ago. It's the scene where they are at war on a boat. The scene was well done and fairly intense due mainly to the tight camera work and the acting. Aside from that one scene though there really isn't anything to write home about in this bloated movie.