THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

FILM -The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 film loosely adapted from the 1922 short story of the same name written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The film is directed by David Fincher, and stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The film will be released December 25, 2008

PREMISE -The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

In the early 20th century, 80 year old Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), is born aging backwards (he was an old man as a baby and vice versa), causing complications when he falls in love with a 30 year old woman (Cate Blanchett). Director David Fincher said “It’s dark, it’s romantic, and it also deals with mortality in a pretty unflattering way. Button is born in 1919 – with the film itself beginning in World War I, traveling around the world and carrying on all the way through to the year 2000.”

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was originally slated for theatrical release in May 2008,but it was pushed back to November 26, 2008. The release date was moved again to December 25, 2008 in the United States, January 16, 2009 in Mexico, February 6, 2009 in the United Kingdom.and March 6, 2009 in South Africa.

Critical reception

The film has received generally positive reviews. As of January 24, 2009, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 72% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 169 reviews, with 77% of selected “Top Critics” gave the film positive reviews.According to Metacritic, the film received an average score of 70 based on 36 reviews.Yahoo! Movies reported the film received a B+ average score from critical consensus.

Todd McCarthy of Variety gave the film a positive review, calling it a “richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling”.Peter Howell of The Toronto Star says: “It’s been said that the unexamined life is not worth living. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button suggests an addendum: a life lived backwards can be far more enriching…” and describes the film as “a magical and moving account of a man living his life resoundingly in reverse” and “moviemaking at its best.” Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter felt the film was “superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date.” Honeycutt praised Fincher’s directing of the film and noted that the “cinematography wonderfully marries a palette of subdued earthern colors with the necessary CGI and other visual effects that place one in a magical past.” Honeycutt states the bottom line about Benjamin Button is that it is “an intimate epic about love and loss that is pure cinema.”

Joe Morgenstern of the The Wall Street Journal gave the film a rave and states “Benjamin Button is all of a visionary piece, and it’s a soul-filling vision.”Rex Reed of The New York Observer describes “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a monumental achievement—not only one of the best films of the year, but one of the greatest films ever made”, and further states that it is “brilliantly directed and acted, sumptuously photographed and endlessly fascinating.”

A.O. Scott of The New York Times, states “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, more than two and a half hours long, sighs with longing and simmers with intrigue while investigating the philosophical conundrums and emotional paradoxes of its protagonist’s condition in a spirit that owes more to Jorge Luis Borges than to Fitzgerald.” Scott praised director David Fincher and writes “Building on the advances of pioneers like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Robert Zemeckis…Mr. Fincher has added a dimension of delicacy and grace to digital filmmaking” and further describes “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.” He also stated: “At the same time, like any other love — like any movie — it is shadowed by disappointment and fated to end.”

On the other hand, Anne Hornaday of The Washington Post states “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…” and says “It plays too safe when it should be letting its freak flag fly.” Kimberley Jones of the Austin Chronicle panned the film and states “Fincher’s selling us beautifully cheekboned movie stars frolicking in bedsheets and calling it a great love. I didn’t buy it for a second.”

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the film two and a half stars, saying that it is “is a splendidly made film based on a profoundly mistaken premise.” He goes on to elaborate that “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.”

CAST -The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button
Cate Blanchett as Daisy
Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth Abbott
Taraji P. Henson as Queenie
Madisen Beaty as Daisy – Age 10
Jason Flemyng as Thomas Button
Elias Koteas as Monsieur Gateau
Julia Ormond as Caroline
Ed Metzger as President Theodore Roosevelt
Elle Fanning as Daisy – Age 6
Spencer Daniels as Benjamin Button – Age 12
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Brad Pitt’s daughter, will make a small cameo in the film as well.

PRODUCTION  -The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

As early as summer 1994, Maryland Film Office chief Jack Gerbes was approached with the possibility of a film adaptation of the 1922 short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which takes place in Baltimore. In October 1998, screenwriter Robin Swicord wrote for director Ron Howard an adapted screenplay of the short story, a project which would potentially star actor John Travolta. In May 2000, Paramount Pictures hired screenwriter Jim Taylor to adapt a screenplay from the short story. The studio also attached director Spike Jonze to helm the project. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman had also written a draft of the adapted screenplay at one point. In June 2003, director Gary Ross entered final negotiations to helm the project based on a new draft penned by screenwriter Eric Roth. In May 2004, Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures joined to co-finance the project, with Paramount Pictures marketing the film in foreign territories and Warner Bros. handling domestic distribution (those were eventually switched). In the same month, director David Fincher entered negotiations to replace Ross in directing the film. In May 2005, actors Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett entered negotiations to star in the film as Benjamin Button and Daisy, respectively. In July 2005, Fincher negotiated a deal with the studios to direct Benjamin Button and Zodiac back-to-back, with Zodiac being produced first. For Benjamin Button, New Orleans, Louisiana and the surrounding area was chosen as the filming location for the story to take advantage of the state’s production incentives, and shooting was slated to begin in October 2006.

In September 2006, actors Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, and Taraji P. Henson entered negotiations to be cast into the film. The following October, with production yet to begin, actress Julia Ormond was cast as Daisy’s daughter, to whom Blanchett’s character tells the story of her love affair with Benjamin Button. Filming of Benjamin Button began on November 6, 2006 in New Orleans. The following December, actor Ed Metzger was cast to portray President Theodore Roosevelt. In January 2007, Blanchett joined the shoot. Fincher praised the ease of accessibility to rural and urban sets in New Orleans and said that the recovery from Hurricane Katrina did not serve as an atypical hindrance to production. In March 2007, filming moved to Los Angeles for two more months of filming. Principal photography was targeted to last a total of 150 days, excluding the time it would take to create the visual effects for the metamorphosis of Brad Pitt’s character to the infant stage. The director used a camera system called Contour, developed by Steve Perlman, to capture facial deformation data from live actors’s performances. This data then was filtered into a new physically accurate character rigging system created just for the film, called “AnEmotion”, which assisted with the recreation of believable synthetic actors to illustrate the reverse aging of Brad Pitt’s character, Benjamin Button. Overall production was finished in September 2007.

A regular plot device — about someone ageing backwards — in literary sci-fi. Author Dan Simmons recently used it in his Hyperion books, for instance. But it’s probably the first time it’s attempted for the movies.

Anyway, it’d be interesting to see what Fight Club and Seven director David Fincher will do with the material. We just hope that the ageing make-up effects aren’t too cheesy . . .

COMING SOON