This movie’s epic scope encompassing a man’s entire life - lived in reverse - and the historic times he lived through is the kind of film Oscar voters salivate over when it comes to awards time. “Benjamin Button” has also struck a chord with the larger populace, raking in over $80 million in only a few weekend’s release. The selling power of the popular Brad Pitt as the title character is one reason the film is a success. The story is equally captivating for a skeptical critic as well as an everyday movie fan. Audiences may be drawn in by the fantastic story of a man born old and growing younger but we are entertained by the traditional story of a good man overcoming adversity and seeking to find his true love.
Benjamin (Pitt) was born at the end of the first world war in New Orleans. He appears to be deformed - all wrinkled up with many of the maladies the elderly suffer from - yet only the size of a baby. He is raised by an African-American woman named Queenie, who works at an old folks home. The residents take sympathy on the poor child and he grows “up” as one of them. He gets larger - looking like a little old man - and has to learn to walk and talk. Benjamin meets a normal girl his age, Daisy, who sees through his aged looks to the boy inside. Benjamin never forgets her, as he grows young and goes off into the world, visiting foreign places, meeting unique people, eventually taking a much younger man home. When he encounters a grown up Daisy (Cate Blanchett; “Indiana Jones 4”), the question of if they can be together looms large.
Pitt plays Benjamin for most of the film, disappearing behind incredibly realistic make-up and other effects to show an aging man. Pitt’s performance is Oscar worthy, as he carries the believability and heart of the story on his able shoulders. Most impressively, as an elderly man with a limited child-like demeanor and vocabulary, Pitt sells this man’s plight to the audience. His aged demeanor follows the character, even as a younger man. The actress Taraji P. Henson as Queenie, his mother, is a central character to the story, emanating an unconditional love which creates a goodness and patience in the boy. Blanchett also puts in a riveting performance as Daisy, the love of Benjamin’s life who ages normally as he ages backwards. Her flighty, shallow personality as a young woman gives way to a more sensitive and understanding mature woman.
While the movie can be melancholy and moving, it allows for moments of humor giving audiences a release from the drama. “Benjamin Button” is lovingly related by director David Fincher (“Zodiac”), in a biography of the man’s life, with a supernatural twist. The movie comes full circle, bringing the audience to a dramatic event in the present day, washing away the past. There is much to draw from this story, including an appreciation for the elderly stages of life, the cyclical nature of existence, and that time is precious and shouldn’t be wasted. Expect this movie to have a prominent place amongst the awards shows this year.
Rated PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking.
