The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I finally saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button this weekend. Oh boy, did I see it. For 3 hours I saw it and saw it. Longer if you count the 9 or 10 times I’ve seen Forrest Gump.
The fact that this movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards makes me seriously question whether or not the voting members of the Academy actually watch movies. Do they? Does anyone have proof that they actually watch movies? I’m going to suggest that voters have to take some kind of quiz that proves they actually watched the movie. This might (MIGHT!) prevent Awards Disasters such as this.
I don’t need to tell you what happens in this most boring of Best Picture Contenders. Brad Pitt is born as a wrinkly little baby, grows up (or down?) into sex incarnate, riding a motorcycle in mirrored aviators, and dies as a wrinkle-free baby. Trials and tribulations. Lessons in life and love. Painful Southern accents all around.
Probably one of my least favorite parts of the movie (oh, there are so many to choose from) was the frame story. Oh yes, just as Forrest sat on that bench with his box of chocolates, a really old lady (SPOILER 1: it’s Cate Banchett‘s character, only really old now and about to die) languishes in a hospital bed while her daughter (the much underused Julia Ormond) reads to her from Benjamin Button’s diary. All of this set against the completely unnecessary backdrop of Hurricane Katrina. Yeah, no, I’m actually serious. So, in bits and pieces, with Brad Pitt’s slow and disaffected voiceover, we watch his stupid and pointless story unfold until we find out (SPOILER 2!) that Julia Ormond is actually Benjamin Button’s daughter. First, DUH!. Second, oh, wow, who cares?
The women in the film are offensively bland. Blanchett with her regal beauty is relegated to a painful stereotype of fickle woman, punished for her sexual desires and forced to spend her life paying for them. She is only a complete person once she has a baby. Awesome. Oscar Nominee Taraji P. Henson gives a reasonable performance as Benjamin’s adopted mother, but her character, again, is the stereotypical god-fearing, child-rearing, kind-hearted Mammy. Tilda Swinton as Benajmin’s first love, Elizabeth Abbot, is the closest to being a complete woman that isn’t just a pain in the ass…but even she just needed some good Brad Pitt loving to help her achieve her goals. Um, what?
Overly long with metaphors that are forced down your throat so far you’ll need to have your stomach pumped, the case of Benjamin Button is indeed curious. That is, I’m quite curious as to how anyone liked this movie. Damn.
Oh, god. I’ve really avoided reading/thinking too much about this one as i’m working hard to see as many noms this year as i an, and i was holding onto the hope that this might be good. from what i’d previously sniffed out, i was pretty PO’d it was nominated. Geez. (I got sucked into reading this, I like your writing so much! I, too, have a really hard time with stupidly done accents and story frames, so those alone could be spoilers for me.) So many other good films that coulda made it… shameful The Wrestler isn’t there.
Sorry you had to sit through this, but you did it so that some of us don’t have to!
[...] Gillian Singletary’s Writing Samples « The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [...]
Hello!!! All right, I walked out of the movie theater last night, thinking to myself: what was the fuss all about? It absolutely did NOT deserve all those nominations, really. I enjoyed reading your assessment, particularly the about the Katrina backdrop – was that supposed to add an extra thrill to the movie? And my goodness, talking about common places…Really, when is Hollywood going to stop rewarding the stereotypical “god-fearing, child-rearing, kind-hearted Mammy” character? I enjoyed reading your review, made me feel like there is nothing wrong with my critical mind!!!
I just want to say…THANK YOU. I went to see this movie with my mom and sister. They both loved it and I was like, “Eh…it was really long. And did it convey anything that I didn’t get from Fried Green Tomatoes, which had far better characters? Just askin’…” (Okay, maybe Fried Green Tomatoes wasn’t the best choice, but I was on the spot!)
And then they shunned me.
But I thought it was crap.