WHAT IS IT ABOUT: Brad Pitt stars in this bizarre drama as Benjamin Button, a baby born in an old man’s body who, as he gets older, gets younger physically. In a life filled with amazing experiences, his love for Daisy (Cate Blanchett) is a continual theme.
WAS IT ANY GOOD: I watched this with eager anticipation, and was more disappointed than I have been with any film for a long time. This film, to me and the three people I watched it with, is a massive failure. The problem comes in two areas:
1) The plot – the story is a long-winded affair (nearly three hours) that trails its way through different plots and sub-plots, many of which are unimportant to the main narrative. It’s a bit like Forrest Gump, in that it tells of lots of different experiences, but they lack the feel good factor or cleverness of Gump, and as a result often made me think ‘what is the point of this sub-plot?’ All throughout the film, I was expecting something big to happen, and it just never did. The story is a failure, in that it fails to really do anything.
2)The love story fails – when Daisy and Benjamin are both played by different people for much of the film, the adult versions (Pitt and Blanchett) fail to have the connection their characters would supposedly have with each other. As a result, the love story (which supposedly drives the whole thing), is inauthentic and naïve, failing to resonate with the audience.
3) The silly costumes – the early Benjamin, looking like an old man, is wrong in so many ways. He looks like a budget puppet, and is so out of the ordinary that he is impossible to warm to: his freak show status means he cannot be related to, and as such there is little love built up for the main character.
This film takes itself very seriously, and sets itself up as an epic tale, but ultimately fails as an over-long, unbelievable waste of time.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1997 - Drama - Director: Gillian Armstrong - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Wilkinson, Richard Roxburgh
This is an anthology of the best stories written by Francis Scott Fitzgerald - including ... more
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and "A Diamond As Big As The Ritz". People who were unfailingly polite racked their brains for comp...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
I was born under unusual circumstances. And so begins The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, ... more
adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time...
I was born under unusual circumstances. And so begins The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, ... more
adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time...
Adapted from the classic 1920's story by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Curious Case Of Benjamin ... more
Buttonstars Brad Pitt asBenjamin Button - a man born in his eighties who agesbackwards! The film follows Benjamin's story, set in New Orleans, from the endof Worl...
Advantages: Everything. It's got depth, good characters, good plot, its well thought out, thought provoking... Disadvantages: You have to pay attention... That's it. No half watching this film.
surveysista1988 10.06.2009 (10.06.2009)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Fight Club (DVD)
Mar 8th, 2009
very helpful by (40%):
helpful by (60%):
