The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

“I was born under unusual circumstances”.

David Fincher has become a director synonymous with cultural zeitgeist and visually progressive filmmaking techniques, but there is a simpler theme (amongst countless others) that permeates all of his work, from the claustrophobic calamity of Alien3 to the masculine deconstruction of Fight Club, that of mortality. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the broadest of canvases, and unquestionably Fincher’s most accessible, on which to create this whimsically wonderful epic of a simple man dealing with such themes in extraordinary circumstances. And no, it’s not just Forset Gump: The Brad Pitt years.

Told using that oft-annoying (although not in this instance) device of wrap-around story, our tale begins in a sterile hospital room as Hurricane Katrina begins its devastating destruction of New Orleans. A daughter is at her dying mother’s bedside, so to ease the pain and fill an unspoken void from years of alienation she begins to read from the diary of one Benjamin Button, a man born with the ailments of a geriatric, yet grew younger to live a fantastically astonishing life.

There are so many praise-worthy achievements that can be bestowed on this potential Oscar-snaffler, and it’s only real criticism is directly related to that tick-box approach to awards baiting success. But why damn a movie for trying to be good?

Top attraction will no doubt be the time-bending photo-realistic special effects work, as impressive as Gollum and as revolutionary as T-1000, here however they do not serve the same purpose as those show stopping CG creations. The triumph behind the way in which Pitt is morphed from an elderly seven-year old to the Seven Years in Tibet poster boy is that after the initial amazement you will completely forget about the computer digery-pokery and become solely immersed in the film.

Inspired by the F. Scott Fitzgerald 1921 short story of the same name, this is a simple tale of self-discovery that’s in every respect satisfying. Inspirational as a “live life to the fullest” parable and gracefully woven over three never noticeable hours as the story of one man’s relentless attempt to treasure the moments that life presents him with. Pitt’s Button knows when to seize an opportunity as he unflinchingly goes to war despite the physical limitations of a fifty year old man, and when to pass one by as he declines the advances of his childhood sweetheart. It is a fantastical piece of Hollywood storytelling.

With this more genteel approach, although still admittedly dark because we are dealing with a character that will cruelly watch all those around him grow old whilst he passes them by, Fincher can now count himself up there with the greats; Spielberg, Jackson et al. No longer just the MTV director made good, Button proves his versatility by being able to craft on such a grand scale yet still maintain the intimacy the story requires. And for any cries of “sell-out” to a director renowned for his edginess, scratch below the surface of this tale and you will find it as heartbreakingly unkind as any of his back-catalogue. So there!

Hyperbole surrounding effects and awards shouldn’t detract from some outstanding performances too. Pitt is much more than just a digital template, his mannerisms as a wheelchair bound infant are astonishing, and the coy reactions to finding himself in a brothel at such a young age are thoroughly charming. His brief encounter with married Tilda Swinton (also excellent) and relationship with a father that left him on a doorstep (ditto for Flemying) are also high points in a reasonably understated, yet entirely unforgettable turn. Blanchett as his romantic foil flits in and out of the narrative with very little effect until the final third, during which she brilliantly steps up to carry the emotional weight of the touching ending.

Possibly an overtly gushing review? Agreed. This won’t be to everyone’s taste, that’s for sure, but cinema is designed to stimulate, amaze, and provide escapism on different levels, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button does that and a little bit more.