A 1999 movie starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt based on t …
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The technical dazzle ofThe Curious Case of Benjamin Buttonis a truly astonishing thing to behold: this story of a man who ages backwards requires Brad Pitt to begin life as a tiny elderly man, then blossom into middle age, and finally, wisely, become young. How director David Fincher--with makeup artists, special-effects wizards, and body doubles--achieves this is one of the main sources of fascination in the early reels of the movie. The premise is loosely borrowed from an F. Scott Fitzgerald story (and bears an even stronger resemblance to Andrew Sean Greer's novel The Confessions of Max Tivoli), with young/old Benjamin growing up in New Orleans, meeting the girl of his dreams (Cate Blanchett), and sharing a few blissful years with her until their different aging agendas send them in opposite directions. The love story takes over the second half of the picture, as Eric Roth's script begins to resemble his work on Forrest Gump. This is too bad, because Benjamin's early life is a wonderfully picaresque journey, especially a set of midnight liaisons with a Russian lady (Tilda Swinton) in an atmospheric hotel. Fincher observes all this with an entomologist's eye, cool and exacting, which keeps the material from getting all gooey. Still, the Hurricane Katrina framing story feels put-on, and the movie lets Benjamin slide offscreen during its later stages--curious indeed.--Robert Horton
Stills from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Click for larger image)
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Stills from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Click for larger image)
Cast:
Cate Blanchett,
Brad Pitt,
Tilda Swinton,
Julia Ormond,
Faune A. Chambers
Genre: Drama
Screen Writer: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
DVD Release Date: May 5, 2009
Runtime: 166 minutes
Studio: Paramount
Genre: Drama
Screen Writer: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
DVD Release Date: May 5, 2009
Runtime: 166 minutes
Studio: Paramount
More The Curious Case of Benjamin B... reviews
Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button, a man born old who ages backwards as the years pass, so that when he dies, he's an infant. Cate Blanchett is his love interest but there didn't seem to be much chemistry between the two. I also didn't like her character - she seemed too self-absorbed. I guess I thought this would be along the lines of Forest Gump, showing historical events that coincided with Button's life, and it does this only in a minor way. Pitt does a good job with the role and his narrative … more
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review by newtonooi.
June 20, 2009
For all his good looks and great physique, Brad Pitt has an uncanny ability to pick great movies that explore the human experience and human psyche. With movies such as Se7en, Jesse James, Babel, Seven Years in Tibet, and now this hit from late 2008, Mr. Pitt has established himself as one of the top actors over the past 2 decades with great performances in multiple genres. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is probably Pitt's best work, as he carried the film. Unlike previous movies, he shares … more
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review by ZeeDan.
May 26, 2009
2 hours and 45 minutes, be prepared. It's a long movie, no doubt about that. Aside from a bit of wandering at about 30 minutes in, the film really moves along at a good pace and, in the end, doesn't seem almost 3 hours long. It's a very enjoyable movie. The bad about this film, the DVD transfer. This is one of the poorest DVD transfers I've seen in a very long time. In fact I'd almost forgotten what compression artifacts looked like. Oh my, they are present in this film. There's … more
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Very loosely based upon a short story by the great American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is a beautiful movie that is both personal in focus, but epic in scope. Set mostly in New Orleans, the film follows the life of a baby boy whose mother dies during his birth on Armistice Day, the end of WWI, November 11, 1918. The baby is so deformed that his father considers killing the child by dropping him in the river, but is stopped by a policeman. Startled the father … more
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In short... zzzzz... Oh, it wasn't a bad movie, but it was quite boring and way too long. The last fifteen minutes were almost enough to redeem it, but not quite. You know the plot by now. Brad Pitt plays a man who ages backwards. Born as a wrinkly, ugly baby, his father abandons him, and he's raised by a black woman who works/lives in an old folks home. We follow Benjamin through all the stages of his life in great, great detail. You see him working … more
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Drama movie directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
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