The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Oscars 2009

The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a movie where if you saw the amazing trailer, at the same time you probably thought you now knew the entire plot of the movie. Well you're right and wrong. The first half the movie, is essentially an extended trailer, detailing all of Benjamin's childhood that the audience already knew from all of the commercials- a baby is born as an old man and lives his life by physically growing younger, almost a countdown to his death.

Benjamin (Brad Pitt) grows up in New Orleans at a nursing home run by this adoptive mother (Taraji P. Henson with a well-deserved nomination for an emotional and touching portrayal of a mother's undying love for an enigma of a child). It is here where he first meets Daisy, the granddaughter of a woman in the home, which sparks the central love story for the rest of the film. 

None of this is new to audience members who saw the trailer, and around half way 

through the film with no new information, the plot drags. Even an appearance from Tilda Swinton as a woman with whom Benjamin has an affair cannot the slow-moving story. 

But luckily that all changes rather quickly, propelling the plot into a second half that was both unexpected and even more satisfying than what was advertised. Daisy (Cate Blanchett), who has become a fairly well known dancer, is reintroduced into the story with a plot twist that shatters her life (literally) sparking a chain of events that leaves the audience waiting until the very end to know what fate exactly come to these star-crossed lovers. 

Meanwhile, not very clear from the trailer, this is a story within a story. A woman (Julia Ormond) is sitting in a hospital during Hurricane Katrina reading the diary of a one Benjamin Button to her mother Daisy (got it?). That being said, it's clear F. Scott Fitzgerald got his story a little bit tweaked for the film, but nonetheless, up for an Adapted Screenplay Oscar.

Despite an Academy Award nomination, Pitt as Benjamin is nothing to get too excited over. Yes he is able to identify with Benjamin's numerous ages and works to understand a character that obviously nobody in the audience can relate to, but he's never riveting in a way that a Best Actor should be.

Mediocre acting aside, the film is a visual masterpiece. With the running time clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the lengthiness of the film allows the audience can take the time to soak in all of the dazzling special effects needed to transform Pitt into Benjamin as well as the stunning shots, especially those of Daisy's dancing. As noted, the first half drags along with little new developments, but if the audience can patiently wait for the second half, the plot picks up raises the movie from simply visually satisfying to one with an engaging story.

While heavily nominated, the film has yet to win any major awards. Though nominated for Best Picture, it seems that most critics are probably thinking the same thing- the film was admirable enough that you can't discount it by not giving it a nomination, but not so amazing that it should be taking home the biggest prize of the night.