The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
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Cast
as Benjamin Button
as Daisy
as Thomas Button
as Caroline
as Queenie
as Elizabeth Abbott
as Daisy (Age 7)
as Mr. Gateau
as Captain Mike
as Tizzy
as Preacher
as Grandma Fuller
as Ngunda Oti
as Daisy (Age 10)
as Theodore Roosevelt
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Critic Reviews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
All Critics (245) | Top Critics (44) | Fresh (175) | Rotten (70) | DVD (19)
An epic, melancholic romance that employs a multi-generational cast and groundbreaking visual effects. It's a testament to Fincher's skill as a storyteller that the film actually works, albeit sporadically.
With a running time of almost three slow-going hours, the movie definitely makes you feel as though you're aging forward.
Mostly, the film is an orgy of excess, in which Fincher indulges his passion for luxuriant image-making, with little regard for whether the story merits (or can withstand) such grandiose treatment.
There's leisure to the storytelling, a splendor that captures the movie's celebratory but also melancholy ideas about our time on this mortal coil.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leaves you colder than it should, and it shouldn't leave you cold at all.
Fincher's visual mastery and Pitt's charisma almost compensate for a gimmick in search of a meaning. The more time Fincher gives viewers with Button, the thinner the character grows.
Audience Reviews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button charts the life of a man who was born old and grows younger as times progresses across the span of the 20th century. Based on a short story by "the" great American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, Benjamin Button is a film that eloquently captures the magic and charm of Hollywood from times long past. It has a warmth, gentle humour and charm that is sorely missing from most of the sentimental slop that is produced these days and is truly stunning to look at. Brad Pitt gives a much softer edged performance than I thought he was capable of and is wonderfully supported by Cate Blanchett who perfectly captures the gradual maturity of age from self absorbed hedonist to rounded and worldly wise matriarch. The "life story" format draws obvious comparison to Forrest Gump, but that film is like Benjamin's inbred, trailer trash hick second cousin; this has a maturity and intelligence that is completely absent from that manipulative, greetings card poem of a movie. The length is an obvious issue but rather than self indulgent, I found it a very brave move on Fincher's part to produce such a ponderous and measured film in this climate obsessed with cheap thrills aimed at people with no attention span. In doing so, he has produced a beautifully crafted, genuinely moving and thought provoking film of the kind I have not seen in a long time.
Super Reviewer
Unnecessarily long. Sure, go ahead and say that I have a short attention span, but I just didn't care about many parts of the film. The idea is interesting and Brad Pitt does a fine job as the lead actor. Although, at times it feels like the film tries too hard to be a work of art. All those long drawn out scenes aren't artistic, they are boring. Not something I would watch again and definitely not Fincher's best work.
Super Reviewer
A beautiful epic that needs to be watched in one sitting.
Super Reviewer
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Quotes
| Benjamin Button: | And I think, right there and then, she realized none of us is perfect forever. |
| Benjamin Button: | And I think, right there and then, she realized none of us is perfect forever. |
| Daisy: | Would you still love me if I were old and saggy? |
| Benjamin Button: | Would you still love me if I were young and had acne? When I'm afraid of what's under the stairs? Or if I end up wetting the bed? |
| Benjamin Button: | When the package was wrapped, the woman, who was back in the cab, was blocked by a delivery truck, all the while Daisy was gettin' dressed. The delivery truck pulled away and the taxi was able to move, while Daisy, last to be dressed, waited for one of her friends, who had broken a shoelace. While the taxi was stopped, waitin' for a traffic light, Daisy and her friend came out the back of the theater. And if only one thing had happened differently; if that shoelace hadn't broken; or that delivery truck had moved moments earlier; or that package had been wrapped and ready, because the girl hadn't broken up with her boyfriend; or that man had set his alarm and got up five minutes later; or that taxi driver hadn't stopped for a cup of coffee; or that woman had remembered her coat, and got into an earlier cab, Daisy and her friend would've crossed the street, and the taxi would've driven by. |