The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The story of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), born at the end of World War I as an old man only to grow younger with each passing year, and the love of his life, Daisy (Cate Blanchett).

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a frustrating film. On the one hand, director David Fincher does amazing technical job, utilizing state-of-the-art special effects to not only portray star Brad Pitt aging in reverse from a feeble old-man to a young boy, but also to create the film’s world. That he does all this without ever drawing your attention to the effects is even more impressive.

Yet, Fincher’s attention to detail can’t overcome a deep-seeded flaw in Eric Roth’s script; namely, that it lacks the insight implied by its premise. There are moments, particularly the closing image, that hint at the film’s potential. Moments that make you wonder if there’s another layer waiting to be exposed. Yet, for a premise that invites introspection, the resulting film promotes surprisingly little. It doesn’t creep into your mind on your drive home from work, it doesn’t bubble up into your consciousness during your morning shower. In short, it doesn’t resonate the way it should.

That’s not to say it doesn’t resonate at all. The film is an emotional one, and there are moments where everything works and you feel it pulling on your guts, but by the time the film rolls into its third act, you can’t help but look for a unifying theme that just isn’t there.

Much has been made of the similarities between this story and Roth’s earlier script, Forest Gump (1994). While it’s true the film’s share similar characters and plot points, the artful even-handed touch of Fincher elevates his film far beyond the heavy-handed and saccharine Gump, which suffered from a similar lack of theme, instead passing off a tired cliché about candy as genuine insight.

Time may be very kind to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, however. By not condescending to their audience, and more or less admitting that they have no answer, Fincher and Roth may have made a more profound statement about life than any of us realize.