December 26, 2008

A "Curious Case" Indeed...

Hey all, now that everyone has had a chance to (hopefully) see Benjamin Button I figured I'd finally break my silence on the flick. Benjamin Button is at turns a borderline masterpeice and also a majorly flawed film. Much of the success of the film is due to director David Fincher crafting a visually interesting film and Brad Pitt giving one of his best performances. The flaws mainly are in terms of the length (essentially it's a brilliant 2 hour movie that lasts almost 3), the script, which is like by the scribe of Forrest Gump and at times wants really hard to be that way, and the framing device involving Hurricane Katrina...my full review will be up soon, but suffice to say, it's far from a perfect film, but it's definitely in the talk for Best Picture.

16 comments:

  1. I honestly sobbed throughout the film. It truly moved me. At this point, it a dead with The Dark Knight for my favorite film of the year, and I think it will probably win Best Picture and rightfully so.

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  2. it needs some time to percolate inside, but it's slowly starting to be less about the flaws and more about the good things it has going for it

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  3. Indeed. The sum is greater than the parts. I'm not sure where people are getting the "its emotionally cold" thing from. I thought it was anything but cold. However, it was not overly sentimental or manipulative. Fincher and Roth allowed us to feel what we wanted to feel, they didn't shove anything down our throats or resort to sappy dialogue or anything like that. I'm also not sure I get the Forrest Gump comparisons. Sure, the narration and some of the humour is similar, but I personally think the two are apples and oranges.

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  4. it's cold in the sense that Fincher doesn't go for the emotion...and perhaps doesn't even care if you like the film or not...Gump in terms of spanning a person's life...Eric Roth was copying itself a bit...I liek it more the more I think about it though

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  5. I agree with most of Kevin's comments. It really is better on reflection when viewed as a whole rather than by individual scenes. And I appreciated the lack of emotional manipulation, it allowed the scenes to have greater impact cuz it felt like you were coming to your own reaction, not being forced into one.

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  6. I agree that it was slightly flawed, but I found myself completely swept away on this journey. Fincher's style was so relaxed compared to normal and Pitt's performace was indeed one of the best two or three performances of his career. All in all, I think that it was one of the best movies this year

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  7. I just saw it tonight, definitely one of the best pictures of the year, up until Benjamin comes home from the war I found the movie to be flawless, from then on it got a bit bumpy but overall i'd say it's a haunting film, definitely not overly sentimental (thank god for Fincher) and Brad Pitt...maybe his finest performance ever

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  8. can't wait to read your review Joey!

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  9. Seems like the consensus is that the film loses its way a bit in the late second act and third act. I personally, and mind you, this is just me, found this to be a masterpiece and a flawless one at that. However, I can see that some people may feel like there is an air of emotional disinterest at times. However, Fincher and Pitt were far from uninterested. If you read the interviews, Pitt is incredibly passionate about this film and is very proud of it. I think the ideas of fatherhood and family really hit home with him. I think there are quite a few standout scenes and truly beautiful scenes, but I think that like any great film, it it better viewed as a whole at first, then dissected into scenes after its had time to sink in.

    I think that at this point, Best Picture is a two horse race between this and Slumdog Millionaire. I personally think that Benjamin Button should win, but something tells me we might have a situation like last year where basically there were two masterpieces duking it out, and the one that lost turns out to be the truly better one. For example, No Country for Old Men was brilliant, but There Will Be Blood is the one people still talk abotu and analyze. Similar situations occurred over history, such as Brokeback Mountain losing, the first and second LOTR films losing, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver losing. All of the aforementioned film have found a place in cinematic history, but lost best picture to something more immediately digestible. This may be what happens this year, with the academy giving Best Picture to Slumdog Millionaire because it is the quick fix for a great feel good triumphant love story and a rags to riches one too. Benjamin Button requires more reflection, thought, time, and repeat viewings to truly appreciate. It's not overwhelmingly intense like There Will Be Blood, but it takes some time to really sink in because its so beautiful and big.

    What do you think of that idea?

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  10. I think, you mentioned Brokeback Mountain, that this is the exact kind of year where there are two very good movies and they end up splitting Picture and Director. (ie. Crash and Brokeback Mountain; Gladiator and Traffic) I think that you're right and that Slumdog will end up winning Picture but that Benjamin Button will win Director...and almost always in a split situation the one that wins Director ends up being the true masterpiece of the year.

    P.S. - I still think that No Country for Old Men is and was the true masterpiece of last year.

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  11. my review should be up soon, but like I said, the main thing that kept the film afloat (quite literally at times) was Fincher

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  12. I just saw the movie tonight and really liked it. It was a really beautiful film and the acting/direction was superb. But, as for best picture, I just can't see that happening. This movie is well deserving of a nomination, but I just don't feel it was the best film of 2008. It didn't leave that giant impression on me when I left the theatre. I just thought of it as a great movie but nothing spectacular. A few scenes were truly beautiful and touching (the dancing, the battle scene at sea) but there was a lot of drag time to me. Wall-E, the Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire are the big contenders to me that should be rewarded in my opinion.

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  13. it's a masterpiece. i'm sorry, but if you're going to say it's FLAWED because its 3 hours, you really shouldn't be doing reviews because that's a retarded thing to say. It needed to be that long. It's about someones life. I do not think this film is flawed. The ending is probably the best ending i've ever seen. ever. I hope the older generations of voters will give this its rightful oscar for best picture, because it (pitch-perfectly) illustrates the changes in a man's life. It's brilliant.

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  14. way to insult someone you don't know douchebag, and for the record, I agree that it's not too long, but wow, did he cut you off on the freeway or something?

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  15. thanks for career advice, and going by your theory, the film should be flawed because it's far too short at 3 hours, nowhere near enough time to tell a life story...I've said before that it's a very good film (my review and Clay's is here: http://www.awardscircuit.com/benjaminbutton.html ), I just found it to not be able to sustain its length, which kept it from being a masterpiece...I'm here to give my opinion, and that's it....also, please refrain from insults everyone, or i'll delete your posts...thanks

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