Tissues needed
Benjamin Button was abandoned by his father after the death of his mother during his own birth. Left on the door steps of a retirement home, Benjamin was an unusual child. He started his young life out as an old man. As time moved on, he soon started to rapidly reverse aging. During that time, he had many stories to share of an interesting life he led. From a fishing boat helper, to a world war II contributor, to a lover of his childhood sweetheart, Button had many stories to share about his interesting life.
When I saw the trailer for this film, I was skeptical. The first thing I thought of, and it’s a sentiment that is shared by many critics, is that it’s a different version of Forrest Gump. If you can picture Gump as a reverse-aging individual leaving different stories — that are slightly deeper than the 94′ movie, then you see what you get. That is actually just a shade of what the film actually is. The story that Fincher tells is far more intelligent then a gimmicky tale of history, it’s a more specific tale of the life of a individual that didn’t get dealt the best hand. Button’s character is intriguing because he really doesn’t care about his shortcomings. Unlike Gump who was completely oblivious to his shortcomings, Button knows exactly what he is and what people think about him. He deals with his shortcomings and tries to press on in life. It’s neat to see, very powerful on so many levels.
Now something I don’t talk about a lot in reviews, something I should certainly start doing, is the beautiful cinematography that the movie sports. One of the greatest assets to this film is how it’s shot. Each time period in Button’s life is represented by different visuals. At the beginning, you get a sepia-tone like color that helps to reinforce the young age of young Button. As his life progresses, the colors become more clearer, becoming the clearest when he’s at the middle of his life. When his fate becomes clearer and clearer towards the end, the color shifts to a darker blue. All of this just backs up the story and its progression. It also doesn’t hurt that the locations were some of the most beautiful. The russian scene of the movie being the nicest to the eye. Anyway, kudos to the cinematographer for firmly establishing how the look of the film was going to help the progression of the story.
Speaking of story, you all know what is going to happen. You understand as soon as you see it begin how it’s going to end. Going into this film, I knew how it ended. I knew that it was going to be a great ending, not in terms of powerful, but in terms of sadness. I have only cried at one film (no, I will not mention that film — It’s not Titanic) and had firmly prepared myself for the inevitable ending. I had emotionally trained for this moment, trained to be a stonewall. Let me tell you, Fincher made me cry like a baby (thank God my wife was asleep). The story’s build starts from the beginning and it doesn’t let up. Button comes into the world struggling and he goes out just as hard. It’s tough to watch someone suffer so much at the beginning and helplessly struggle during the last part of the film. Fincher cleverly gave the audience a break in the middle, which was welcomed. It’s an incredibly balanced film thanks to that middle part. In the beginning you’re rooting for the kid finally break-free of his old-man shackles. When he gets to the pinnacle of his life, you’re so happy for him. On the last part of the film, you’re painfully going through what Button and his surrounding family/friends are going through. It’s painful every step of the way, but you can’t turn away from him. By the end of the film Fincher has made you respect Button. He has connected you with him and you want to see Button through his life. This is phenomenal character development and one that will ensure that Benjamin emotionally stays with you long after the film is over.
Stories can’t really be told without so fantastic acting. The two main players deserve all the credit in the world, especially Cate Blanchett who didn’t get enough credit for her role. You will forget that Blanchett, who didn’t require any work to make her look young (of course, they helped make her look old — even on her deathbed), is a super-duper star. She blends into the character of Daisy so well. As for Pitt, he had to play old to young and it took a lot of effort to make sure people weren’t enamored by his Brad Pitt looks. Thanks in part to special effects, Pitt may not do the quite the same level of performance that Blanchett does, but he does separate his real life self from his character. He plays old really wonderfully and doesn’t cast his usual Pitt charms to the audience, which helps the story progress better. Both of these actors deserve more accolades then they received. Just fantastic performances.
By the end of all this, you’ll want to take a break from Button’s life, but you’ll want to relive it again shortly after. I can’t explain that part. Generally, if I cry about something the first thing I don’t want to do is revisit it. Of course, I don’t usually connect with a drama so damn well. Much like Button’s life, I don’t really want to waste time trying to figure out why I want to see it again, I just want to be glad that I can see it again. That’s the real point of the entire film, don’t waste time on the small stuff, live for the moment. You’ll want to live the moment multiple times.
Too bad the Blu-ray doesn’t help with the crying
So, how good is the HD? For movies that depend on special effects, such as this one, it’s always fun to gauge how well you can ‘notice’ the effects. For movies like The Dark Knight and Iron Man you can notice these things. Those movies are incredibly different than this one, of course. The effects on the Blu-ray look seamless. They blend in and are hardly noticeable, which is a great credit to Paramount for their HD transfer. This movie is one of the best films, in part thanks to the careful transfer to HD, on the Blu-ray format. A good portion of that can be attributed to fantastic cinematography. It’s so breathtaking in so many ways. For instance, the scene where Cate Blanchett is in the park with Pitt and she is dancing on the small stage in the park, it’s stunning. The reflection of the water, that’s near the stage, shimmers playfully on the ceiling of the open stage. For that moment you connect so well with the scene, the moment. You can give thanks to the Blu-ray format for that. Backing up the visuals is a haunting, yet beautiful, soundtrack. Remastered for the Blu-ray format, it will pull you in even further.
As for features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button (Four-part documentary)
Probably one of the more interesting documentaries that I’ve seen in a while. Takes you into how it all occurred from story to production. Very in-depth stuff that will put you closer and closer to the production.
– Audio Commentary from David Fincher
Fincher is simply a genius. Listening to how he did it all, what it took and what the intentions were when making the film, makes it all worthwhile in the end. If you weren’t intrigued by just the film itself (if you weren’t, what’s wrong with you??) , then this should help.
There’s not a lot when it comes to quantity (individual features), but the four-part documentary makes it worth while. It’s really quite impressive. It reminds me of the single documentary that Ridley Scott has on the new Blade Runner set. It’s one feature that lasts four-hours. It’s a single feature, but it’s worth it. You’ll get so much from this four-part documentary.