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The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button: The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray]

“I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 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. We follow his story, set in New Orleans, from the end of World War I in 1918 into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas and Julia Ormond, “Benjamin Button,” is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.The technical dazzle of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is 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)

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Life-changing Experience
The moment I saw this in theaters to the moment it came on DVD and I hit the purchase button, it was a life-changer. Eye-opener, edge-of-the seat drama, a magical story with nothing fantasy. The way it’s portrayed, you could be the main character, it could happen to you. Highly recommend, go watch!

4 Stars Criterion Special Edition interesting
First of all I was worried as plastic protection over DVD case said “Hecho en Mexico” that brought me quite a dissapointing feeling that I was purchasing a disc that was made outside the US and worst of all that it could be piracy as for the common issues about violated copyrighted material and lack of substantial laws whenever things go outside the US. While I don’t care if something I buy is made wherever the place of origin it is (if it is quality-acceptable), when I played the movie and see all the feature disc I completely changed my mind, really it was a good release from The Criterion house, a complete original Zone-1 disc leaving a really enjoyable taste of things well made on every single part of the documentaries, under my perspective quality was exceptional and movie played all smoothly good. Now I think that it was the plastic protection only what was made in Mexico, or eventhough if the whole thing was made in there, I ended up in saying “Heck! Why to disgust!”.

5 Stars great movie
got it before i thought i would which was nice since it was a christmas gift.

5 Stars Amazing
This film felt like a cross between Forest Gump and Time Traveler’s Wife. It’s a wonderful movie that leave you appreciating life. Brad Pitt did an excellent job. The cast was perfect. The plot and story were interesting and well done. The story takes us through Benjamin’s life as he ages in reverse. It examines his ability to cope and adapt and his relationships. The makeup and period pieces were done well and once you suspend belief, the entire film seems very true and real. A great film.

5 Stars If you don’t like this film, you simply don’t understand it.
I hate to sound so pretentious in my review title. But, if you think this movie is slow, the characters undeveloped, exc., you don’t get the main message of the film. As we get older, Benjamin’s life story becomes more meaningful. We eventually understand the complexity of Benjamin’s situation. If Benjamin is flat as a character, you are not already engrossed in the message of the film. If you were, Benjamin’s flatness would be reinterpreted as confounded acceptance of a world none of us can begin to understand. Benjamin in not so much a character, he is representative of that dilemma we all face: what has our experience of the world prepared us for, and why do we never seem prepared for “what’s coming for us”?

Benjamin ages backward–he is born old and gets younger, stronger, and more beautiful as time goes by. Almost all of us dream of such a turn of events. We all say: I wish I could have been wise and knowledgeable in my prime–we all want to combine the strength of our teens and 20s with the knowledge of our 30s, 40s, 50s, exc. Benjamin is able to achieve this. At 60 years of age Benjamin is ravishingly young, fit, and beautiful–and he already has the experience of a lifetime! However, Benjamin’s blessing is also his curse and he finds himself still separated from everyone, still blindsided by the events and revelations of life.

If you don’t find life “curiously” astounding and unpredictable, if you think that, somehow, your “experience” has prepared you for “what’s comin”, then please don’t bother with this movie. But, if you are like the rest of us–simultaneously confounded and enraptured with the “curious” turns of life–this is the movie for you.

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