Age Appropriate

A review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (“Benjamin Button”) is a beautiful – though ultimately flawed – film. Written by Eric Roth (The Good Shepherd, Forrest Gump) (with story credit to Roth and Robin Swicord (The Jane Austen Book Club, Practical Magic), based upon a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and directed by David Fincher (Zodiac, Fight Club), Benjamin Button contains a beautiful love story and is at times breathtaking to watch, given its stunning and often mind-boggling visuals. Because of its significant reliance upon the use of visual effects, any fair discussion of Benjamin Button must acknowledge its sheer achievement in filmmaking, in the way it was able to plausibly portray Brad Pitt as the backward-aging Benjamin at every age (my understanding is that the filmmakers superimposed Brad Pitt’s age-appropriate visage upon whatever size/age actor was playing him when the character was either far too old or far too young to be physically portrayed by Mr. Pitt).

Benjamin Button tells the tale of Benjamin (Brad Pitt), an odd boy born prematurely old. Childbirth kills his mother and, unable to handle the grotesque and strange nature of his son, Benjamin’s father abandons him to be cared for at a home for the aged. Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), one of the caregivers at the home, adopts the child and names him Benjamin, raising him as her own son with the help of her beloved, Tizzy (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), who also works at the home. As Benjamin grows up at the home, he slowly outgrows the maladies of old age, gaining the ability to walk and see more and more unimpeded with each passing year. The home also introduces Benjamin to the love of his life, Daisy (Elle Fanning), at the age of seven, as her grandmother is a resident there. It is with Daisy (also played by Madisen Beaty at age 10, then Cate Blanchett as an adult) that Benjamin has his first adventures. The rest of Benjamin Button is an exhaustive recounting of the adventures that Benjamin pursues, the places around the world those adventures take him and the great love that he and Daisy share.

Much as I enjoyed the substantial portion of Benjamin Button that magnificently drew us into Benjamin and Daisy’s love affair, there were some fundamental disconnects that prevented me from falling in love with this movie as a whole. To begin with, the entire set-up of the narrative structure, the introduction of an elderly woman on her deathbed in August, 2005 in Katrina-threatened New Orleans felt forced, preachy and out-of-place. It felt shoehorned into what might otherwise have been a lovely, seamless narrative. As it was, I felt jolted and jarred when I realized that this old woman before us was Daisy (a very heavily made-up Cate Blanchett) and that she and her daughter, Caroline (Julia Ormond), would serve as narrators by reading from a diary that she had waited until her deathbed to look at (minor spoiler: really? I mean, come on, she really waited until her deathbed to read what Benjamin said? I found that particular detail difficult to swallow) because it was not presented to the audience in any kind of fluid manner. Further, each time the action of Benjamin’s tale was interrupted and we, the audience, were pulled back to 2005, it felt completely disruptive to the pace and storytelling of the film; it utterly destroyed its fluidity for me. I am very curious to know whether the original draft of the script had the New Orleans/Katrina set-up, because it felt sanctimonious, overdone and unnecessary and, I am guessing, was possibly the result of Brad Pitt’s quite admirable efforts in aiding Katrina recovery, efforts whose accompanying political commentary had no place in this film.

The story of Benjamin Button was so grand in scope that there were bound to be some problems here and there, but I found there to be many distracting narrative holes. Entire characters would disappear from the film, or die, or disappear, then die, and so little time or treatment would be given to them that it was difficult to absorb their loss and accord it any meaning. It’s understandable given the length of the film that not each and every character could be granted the time and attention that the richness of their character merited, but as a result, I often was left feeling cheated, wanting to know more. For example (minor spoiler alert), with the deaths of Benjamin’s father, of Tizzy, of Queenie, I understand that part of the point was to demonstrate that the tragedy of death is unfortunately a routine part of life, especially for someone like Benjamin who lived life backwards, but I felt that point could’ve been effectively made and still given us greater depth to those moments. I also wanted to know more of who Caroline was as a girl, what her relationship was like with her mother. We get a line or two from Caroline about how they weren’t as close as she wishes they’d been, but why? How did that relationship develop? Did Caroline move away? These seemed to me important and meaningful details that the film should’ve touched upon.

Other details that left me with questions included the set-up of the story about the construction of the backwards clock, the mechanism that was apparently responsible for Benjamin aging backwards. It seemed an odd, odd story for Daisy to know and be able to recount, especially given that she hadn’t yet read the diary. Why this baby thusly afflicted? Was he born at the precise moment the clock became operational? Was it because he happened to be born in New Orleans that day? Was his mother’s death from the effects of childbirth a factor?

The fact that so many questions were raised and remained with me was indicative of an engrossing story with credit due to the writers. Eric Roth, the screenwriter who adapted Forrest Gump, is the primary screenwriter credited on Benjamin Button, and there are certain hallmarks of his style that are indelible. The overly simple nature that Benjamin sometimes exhibits was reminiscent of Forrest Gump, as was the use of landmark historical moments to measure the passing of time and pivotal life milestones of our main characters. However, the use of the hummingbird seemed distractingly out of place and a direct callback to the feather in Forrest Gump. It took me out of those moments and made me think, “get a new device, Mr. Roth!”

Where the script eschewed devices and just focused upon the core love story at the heart of Benjamin Button, it was beautiful and engrossing to watch and truly heartbreaking. Benjamin Button features a great performance by Cate Blanchett in particular, and Brad Pitt was also excellent. Any complaints I had about Mr. Pitt’s portrayal of Benjamin had more to do with the way the character was written (i.e., as too much of a simpleton in various situations) than with Mr. Pitt’s abilities. And Taraji P. Henson elevated a role that could’ve been two-dimensional and made her Queenie memorable without being melodramatic.

Given the foregoing, I hope it is clear that I find Benjamin Button to be a very discussion-worthy, quality film to go see. And it is one that should be experienced on the big screen. Just be aware that at 159 minutes, it will occupy an entire afternoon or evening. If movie popcorn does not appeal to you (and if it doesn’t, I have to ask, what’s wrong with you?), I highly recommend that you pack snacks and go with a buddy. You’ll want someone to tell you what you missed when you take your inevitable restroom break.