The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) Movie Review

Well, this film was on my watchlist quite a while ago and it has 13 Oscar nominations at the 81st edition. So, I thought to have a look at the film. This is my first David Fincher movie review. So, I will make sure that I will review more of his filmography. How did I feel about this film? Here is my take on The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an adaptation of the short story of the same name written by F. Scott Fitzgerald directed by David Fincher. It stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in lead roles. The story as the title suggests talks about Benjamin Button, who ages in reverse and his entire life.

The screenplay is really good but it has its issues. This film has a concept with which they could have made a web-series full of content. It is that great of an idea. The story and screenplay writers, Eric Roth and Robin Swicord squeeze it effectively into an almost 2hr 50min length. This film takes a cliched approach with the beginning i.e., a diary narration. Although we cannot question it, maybe some change should have been made there. But, when the main story begins, we are hooked to it immediately and it is a very smooth and steady ride with him. But, in between some of the film's best moments, the film stretches a bit and some particular patches of the film get boring. This is caused because of the indulgent nature of the film. But, pushing all these aside, the last hour of the film where the main romance of the film really takes centerstage, the film becomes very rich and emotional in its storytelling and gives us a very solid climax to end the film. Special props to those guys who have inspired from some particular scenes in the film and made some interesting films like Paa and Nannaku Prematho. This screenplay engages you for almost 3hr despite the boring patches which is an achievement.

The acting in the film is very very good. Brad Pitt in some of his most challenging works period delivers a strong performance. His husky voice and old man like body language works well in the film. His expressions cannot be seen due to some heavy make-up but we tend to forget it because of reasons which I will talk about in the next section. But, in his younger portions, he gets to shine really well as his goodwill and innocence show in his face brightly. Cate Blanchett too copes up well with the make-up and gives a really good performance. The chemistry between both Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett works out well and brings out appropriate emotions. Taraji P. Henson as Queenie gives a

very good performance showing the love of a mother very effectively. Credit to all the other actors in the film as they deliver their best in their limited screen time.

This film is a technical achievement beyond your expectations. For 2008, this film was a sensation. It also aged well. First, the make-up department. Bollywood is still struggling to get the receding hairline right and Hollywood has shown a complete man's ageing process that too in 2008. The complete make-up department won their Oscar with some highly award deserving hyper-realistic make-up work. The VFX helps the make-up team a lot with very photo-realistic old-man effects and very beautiful to look at backgrounds. They too won their Oscar with some ground-breaking effects. If a certain de-ageing process would have been discovered, this film could have been much better. The locations and sets of the film are super stunning to look at. With the film's historical setting spanning both the World Wars and the retro style from the 1960's, the designers get some real work to do and they deliver with ease. The costume design add to this fact. The cinematography of the film is quite good by capturing all the hard work of the art department in some beautifully crafted frames. The editing could have better by avoiding some of the duller moments of the film particularly the Russian Romance. 

Overall, this film is one of those films that you should never miss as it's high on concept idea and rich screenplay transport us into the the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It is available on Amazon Prime Video in the Best of Oscars section. Go have a look and enjoy.

IMDb Rating : 7.8/10

My Rating : 8/10