The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Review

Over the holidays, I went to the theater to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The bottom line for me is that there is a good movie inside this overly long film and it doesn't help that it drips with somewhat forced local color.

Although the major plot point in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is unusual -- Benjamin Button ages backwards from old age -- the telling of the story is pretty conventional. The story unfolds as an old woman clearly on her deathbed asks her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) to read a diary. The film then flashes back to scenes in the diary, which tell the tale of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) growing younger over the years. The old woman is Daisy (Cate Blanchett), who loved Benjamin from her childhood and eventually crossed temporal paths with him to the extent that they had a child together.

Many scenes are interesting, from Benjamin's first employment on a tugboat, to an early affair in Russia, to his life with Daisy. Unfortunately for the film, they go on and on and on -- cutting 20 minutes from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button would make it much more entertaining. The film also forces a lot of local color. One example is thick New Orleans accents, which become unintelligible when Daisy whispers on her deathbed. I missed several lines of dialog there.

Otherwise, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is well made and has high production values. Brad Pitt is convincing as both an old man and the much younger man he will grow into, and Cate Blanchett glows in her scenes as a younger woman. The buzz is that she did most of her own dancing in the film -- if that's her, she is a lovely dancer.

I enjoyed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but would have enjoyed it more if the pace was faster and the length shorter. In my mind's eye, I would have shortened many scenes and cut others from the film. This would leave the story intact but reduce stress on bladders by the end of what is now a l-o-n-g movie.

There is some sensuality, rough language and a couple of bedroom scenes (one of which takes place in a bordello) in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, so it's probably best for kids 15 and older. The sense of history in the film is good, though. Older kids will be able to absorb some of that history.

I give a mild recommendation to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Too bad it's not 20 minutes shorter.