Director David Fincher is a talented visual stylist who is willing to twist a knife or two into the moviegoer's chest just to see how much they can take. His strong suits do not seem to be the depth of his characters or his sense of realism. Rather, his visual style marks the beginning of his imprint and it creates tone and mood so that his characters don't have to say as much. He gets off on putting people in unusual situations where they must think outside the box and even at times struggle with demons they don't fully understand.
At first glance, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON seems a departure for him, and represents the dipping of his big toe into the waters of gooey, sentimental, "five star" cinema. It has been compared to Forrest Gump (and not by those who liked that film). The similarites are understandable (both are big budget, effects driven, sentimental yarns featuring unconventional and somewhat misunderstood protaganists). Yes, this is also a very long movie and it does use some broad strokes to sum up life experience with catchy phrases such as... ("You never know what's gonna get you in the end") which does recall the "box of chocolates" line. But in this movie, I forgive the many Gumplike flourishes and narrative coincidences that make the story flow like sweet maple syrup. This movie does arch towards preciousness at times but BUTTON is not about some doofus who is able to show us our better selves. The character of Benjamin Button experiences an alternate pathway through life but his path is not charmed. Ultimately, he cannot escape the same taskmaster that we all give in to in the in the end - our own mortality. This movie is a rumination on the relativity of time and the human life experience. Whereas Gump really did seem to be about Forrest, this film seems more to be about us and the effect death has on the way we live. BUTTON is not quite as accomplished as Gump was at "spinning yarn" but I still like this film better. Not because some aspects of it didn't feel "pre-fabricated" but because those pre-fabricated moments felt less pointed to me. They just didn't bother me much. From the beginning you know that the character is aging backwards and will one day look like Brad Pitt (i.e. charmed/beautiful) but the early scenes are also tainted with the sense of impending death. The experience of watching this movie is like that of sitting in a rocking chair and letting a warm afternoon breeze lull you into a light sleep, and then having dreams. You are seeing certain actions and watching things unfold (in this case as fable), but you are also vaguely aware that the dream is informing or reflecting upon your life as well. If you are willing to go with it, the idea of following this man down this alternate path of human reality (this dream) is an interesting way of re-framing your ideas concerning your own life experience. What if there were another kind of life? Would it still seem so fleeting? Would it be better? What would it feel like to age in reverse? Fincher is the type of director who views such a journey from more of a bird's eye view. His characters are chess pieces moving on a board. It may seem like they are in control but in fact, they may not prevail in the end. This rings true to me as an approach because so much in life does seem to be out of our control. Name one person whose life turned out exactly the way he/she thought it would be (or wanted it to). Someone has got to be pulling some strings.
Movies that age young actors are generally thought to be a trap for filmmakers. I cringe when I think of the make up in the Bette Midler movie "For The Boys" or see Winona Ryder's old lady getup in "Edward Scissorhands". BUTTON's primary stunt is to age Brad Pitt backwards using a combination of motion capture, traditional make up, and the superimposing Pitt's face onto the bodies of other actors. The effect is largely successful if a tad odd. It is, however, interesting to anticipate how the director will physically represent each stage of Benjamin's life. Pitt's performance is geared toward boyish innocence when the character looks older, and is more nuanced as he looks younger but has to convey the maturity of a life lived. There are moments when the makeup effect is sort of "too big for the room" and is a distraction. But for the most part it is a success (and believe me, this thing really could have gone awry).
Among the more touching portions of the film is the sequence in which Benjamin has an affair with an "older" woman played by the superior Tilda Swinton. This affair begins innocently as Benjamin listens to her stories and becomes more and more interested in her. She is similarly attracted to his youthful essence (though she doesn't quite understand why since it comes in the body of an older man). It is a May - December romance but not in the order you think. The way it resolves itsself is amusing and Swinton carries her scenes with her usual aplomb.
The timeless "love" interest is between Pitt and Cate Blanchett whom Benjamin meets when he looks very old, and she quite young (the girl being played by a child actress). Over time their biological paths cross and the two connect romantically somewhere in the middle of their lives. You can tell that their relationship is going to be impractical to say the least in the long term. The chemistry between Blanchett and Pitt is good but they really don't spend a lot of time on screen together until the last hour of the movie.
Yes, the film is long and takes a while to get going, but it still feels by the end that the calendar pages are flying off the wall faster than we can track them. In this regard the narrative mimics our own lives. This story is about one person's journey through time, and as the journey comes toward its inevitable conclusion it would make sense that the pace and urgency of the narrative necessarily speeds up. At this point the narrative literally feels like a ticking clock, a tableaux of scenes and images counting down. Benjamin gets to have the penultimate combination of youth and experience toward the end of his life, but he still can't escape from the inevitability that time is slowly crushing him, destroying the fevered dream we once had for him to live a better life than ours. Whether we are constantly moving toward our individual destinies or running from them our mortalities are always gaining ground. And this macabre notion is what makes the movie more David Fincher than it is Forrest Gump.