Ten years ago Cate Blanchett received her star-making role in Elizabeth. Somehow she looks younger in David Fincher’s (Seven, Fight Club) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I know advanced techniques were used to “unage” Brad Pitt but the standout work is found in Blanchett. If this technique has some legs, actresses will have much longer careers. Perhaps even as long and boring as this film.
Brought into this world the natural way, Benjamin Button does everything else unnaturally. He ages backward on the outside, while his mind progresses as a child’s. To help him cope with diversity is his mother Queenie (Taraji P. Henson). The premise sounds more interesting to hear than to see. The movie actually starts out with Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the love interest of Benjamin. She’s on her deathbed, awaiting hurricane Katrina. Daisy then narrates Benjamin’s tale to her daughter. No this isn’t a spoiler, it’s honestly the first scene. Old Daisy is the framing device.
Far too much is presented early. With Daisy there dying, and no Benjamin, it doesn’t take a savant to conjecture everything. There are zero surprises. Benjamin grows up a charming old gent. He meets Daisy when she is around 5 years of age. A ton of illogical and coincidental things occur including: Benjamin and Daisy meeting by chance numerous times, a humming bird appearing in the middle of the ocean, characters dying the moment anyone comes to town.
Truth be told, there is a more substantial detractor from the film; the lack of characterization. Everything is told via montage and voice over. The voice over is not particularly poetic, and no montage can acquaint a moviegoer with a character. Montages are for training Rocky, not for showing characters falling in love. I liked Benjamin for a while, but his life curiously becomes mundane. It is even more of a stretch to suggest that Benjamin and Daisy fall in love when they do, seeing as how both parties spend much more time with other partners. Each scene is short, too short for any development. Instead a voice informs, “Character development initiated.”
Effects applied to the talent are astonishing. Instead of using the comically ping pong balls we’ve all seen, Fincher opted for a finer approach. Phosphorescent powder make-up was applied to Pitt, while various cameras rolled. The result allowed small contours of his face to be applied to a diminutive actor. With the help of make-up and this effect (maybe trick lighting too) he can even look convincingly 17. These visuals are Oscar worthy.
As much as I was fascinated by the utterly realistic facial visuals on display, I wasn’t so keen on other features. Backgrounds at sea look at least five years dated. Real boats must be too difficult to use these days as well. Actual sets and costumes are lovely, as I expected from the director of some of the finest music videos ever to grace MTV. In fact many bit players stepped up; evidenced by the trailer, which will cause Academy members to take notice. Behind the glamour is a film that is far less epic than billed. The one sentence synopsis runs out of steam far short of the near three-hour runtime. On one layer, it was better the first time I saw it… when it was called Forrest Gump. Oh wait, Benjamin’s pen (Eric Roth) already wrote that. **
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