curious case of benjamin button -
as per usual, i arrive a good few years late to the party. i intend to go on a fincher spree so i thought i'd start with this one, which i hadn't seen yet.
i was oddly surprised to find how unremarkable it is, for a movie with such big names and such huge oscar buzz at the time. also, it's oddly out of step with other fincher films. it's much, much sweeter, almost like a pixar movie or something.
i personally much prefer fincher's darker work, but his style as a director is undeniable as always. straight away there's this beautiful palette to his work that distincts him from every other director i know of, this green-bluey muted tone. gorgeous camera work all throughout, lots of small additions and storytelling devices that are nicely utilized. cate blanchette is done justice and is might purty (though on weekdays i'm like 2/10 wouldn't bang) and she puts forth a good performance, too.
brad pitt is just brad pitt here, pretty forgettable, neglecting the makeup and special effects work.
all in all, i guess it was alright, although somewhat pointless. just a story that starts and ends, nothing incredibly striking. fuck this movie for being 3 hours though. i really hate how indulgent most films are today. most are in the 2:30-3:00 range, and you really shouldn't get to 3 hours unless you have a really good reason to. this movie definitely didn't.
|