The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
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Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
What critics thought
Fincher's technical mastery and the film's visual ambition drew wide admiration, but critics split sharply over whether the emotional core justified the running time — American reviewers leaned positive while several prominent British critics dismissed it as hollow spectacle. The central tension is whether the age-reversal premise illuminates anything about love and mortality or simply provides an elaborate backdrop for glossy, safe filmmaking.
“a splendidly made film based on a profoundly mistaken premise. ... the movie's premise devalues any relationship, makes futile any friendship or romance, and spits, not into the face of destiny, but backward into the maw of time.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“There's no denying the sheer ambition and technical prowess of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. What's less clear is whether it entirely earns its own inflated sense of self-importance”
Anne Hornaday·The Washington Post
“The film's premise serves no purpose. It's a gimmick that goes on for nearly three hours ... The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an anodyne Hollywood film that offers a safe and sanitised view of life and death.”
Cosmo Landesman·Sunday Times
“While it stands on the shoulders of breakthroughs like Minority Report, The Lord of the Rings and Forrest Gump, Benjamin Button may be the most dazzling such hybrid yet, precisely because it is the subtlest.”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
“an intimate epic about love and loss that is pure cinema.”
Kirk Honeycutt·The Hollywood Reporter
Accolades
Genres
Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Cast & Crew
David FincherDirector
Brad PittBenjamin Button
Cate BlanchettDaisy Fuller
Taraji P. HensonQueenie
Julia OrmondCaroline Fuller
Jason FlemyngThomas Button
Tilda SwintonElizabeth Abbott
Mahershala AliTizzy Weathers
Jared HarrisCaptain Mike
Elias KoteasMonsieur Gateau
Phyllis SomervilleGrandma Fuller
Faune Chambers WatkinsDorothy Baker
Donna DuPlantierBlanche Devereux
Alexandre DesplatComposer
Eric RothWriter
Claudio MirandaCinematographyThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flits in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer. Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
What critics thought
Fincher's technical mastery and the film's visual ambition drew wide admiration, but critics split sharply over whether the emotional core justified the running time — American reviewers leaned positive while several prominent British critics dismissed it as hollow spectacle. The central tension is whether the age-reversal premise illuminates anything about love and mortality or simply provides an elaborate backdrop for glossy, safe filmmaking.
“a splendidly made film based on a profoundly mistaken premise. ... the movie's premise devalues any relationship, makes futile any friendship or romance, and spits, not into the face of destiny, but backward into the maw of time.”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
“There's no denying the sheer ambition and technical prowess of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. What's less clear is whether it entirely earns its own inflated sense of self-importance”
Anne Hornaday·The Washington Post
“The film's premise serves no purpose. It's a gimmick that goes on for nearly three hours ... The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an anodyne Hollywood film that offers a safe and sanitised view of life and death.”
Cosmo Landesman·Sunday Times
“While it stands on the shoulders of breakthroughs like Minority Report, The Lord of the Rings and Forrest Gump, Benjamin Button may be the most dazzling such hybrid yet, precisely because it is the subtlest.”
A. O. Scott·The New York Times
“an intimate epic about love and loss that is pure cinema.”
Kirk Honeycutt·The Hollywood Reporter
Accolades
Genres
Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Cast & Crew
David FincherDirectorBrad PittBenjamin ButtonCate BlanchettDaisy FullerTaraji P. HensonQueenieJulia OrmondCaroline FullerJason FlemyngThomas ButtonTilda SwintonElizabeth AbbottMahershala AliTizzy WeathersJared HarrisCaptain MikeElias KoteasMonsieur GateauPhyllis SomervilleGrandma FullerFaune Chambers WatkinsDorothy BakerDonna DuPlantierBlanche DevereuxAlexandre DesplatComposerEric RothWriterClaudio MirandaCinematographyStream
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