Quick to my opinionated review, the movie wasn't anything but quick. It was a 3 hours savory story telling. Although, don't expect certain scientific explanations on why Benjamin was born that way, you would just tire our and ruin the experience. There are dragging moments especially with the scenes of Caroline and her dying mother, Daisy, at the hospital. For me, the scenes weren't maximized, even necessary. Caroline, played by the powerful Julia Ormond, could have done something more. Seeing Cate Blanchett in prosthetics though were enough to applaud the make-up crew. But the movie concentrated on the long, but physically reversed life of Benjamin Button, and how he relates with people he meets and interacts in his life. There are only minimal characters that made an impact and molded his life. It wasn't a story of a freak trying to fit in this world rather it is how people, whom he attracted due to his pristine and honest nature, tried to fit in his. It was all about Benjamin at first and his small immediate family life. As his condition made him feel limited in a mind of a restless and curious boy, he knew how to accept life "just as it is." His situation and ironic set up of living in a house for the aged, made him develop his strong grasp of life, but the beauty of him is that he knows when to release.
Physically he ages backwards, but his mind is honed normally. The movie takes that challenge in his life with all the people he loved or encountered. There was a distinct phase in the film wherein as he grew "older" he became more carefree and free. He just freed himself from the shackles of old age and grew up to be a very capable (handsome) man. At the center of his timeline he meets Daisy again whom he shared his "childhood" with. Their minds may have developed as one, but now physically they've become a perfect match as well. They enjoyed a moment, accepting that it wouldn't last, until Benjamin decided to leave everything behind to Daisy and their daughter to also free them from psychological, emotional and physical burden due to his condition. He then moved on, traveled and embraced life. At the closing part of the movie, the elderly Daisy rocks an infant, who is her former lover, the father of her child, to endless sleep, which marks Benjamin's last stage of his life.
*This is not Gollum by the way.It's Benjamin in his "early" years
*Good partnership on screen. Love their passionate and careless scenes here. Benjamin Button's character is the exact opposite of ours. Despite his physical condition wherein his body ages backwards, he lived his life more than any "normal" people could. Our lives are built in a chronological sequence. As we age, we shoulder responsibilities and expectations. We may have different plans when we reach a certain age and we check off accomplishments that we should have achieved. By 20's you get a career and support yourself. By 30's you start a family. By 40's-50's you prepare your retirement. By 60's you enjoy the last days of your life, slowly being limited by your physical and mental condition. We follow a certain clock and swim in a familiar current as we get older. Since life is full of a challenges and often unpredictable some of us fail at some point. Others do not rise from their failures because they may feel it's too late to start all over again. Age has become an important consideration in a race to a kind of life we may not want to live, but in the end we choose to. As we age we get burdened by responsibilities and we seize living the lives we really want. By the time we realized we've made a mistake or faced life's hardships, we can never let go of the grief and the missed opportunities. Benjamin Button might have gone against the current, but he lived his life that is not chained by time. He lived his life free of responsibilities because he knows when to let the burden go. He knew how to deal with his emotions and he learned how to enjoy life as it is, without expectations and without pretentions. In the end he lived a much more fulfillied life than any of us could have ever imagined. Although he ended up witnessing people age and die, he learned how to let go and live on that moments that make life meaningful to him. The moments end up being fond memories and some memories just last. Life is how you make it, not even age and physicalities can limit us of that choice.
It is a heartwarming story. It has a fresh idea on how we see lives far from burden that comes from thinking too much and delving too much on emotions. We sometimes get paranoid with time and get scared of age. It may inhibit us from starting all over again, but the movie gives us courage and the will to try because some moments are so rare that it last. The movie teaches us how to enjoy life as we see it and not fall into the trap of our own limitations. The more I get stuck in this movie, the more I begin to love myself and not get burdened with time. As much as I want to panic and worry about the steady current of responsibilities, I just try to live for moments that make life worth it. I learned the value of letting go and seeing "life as it is." Also, the more I get stuck in this movie, the more Brad Pitt becomes even handsomer to me. There were, I believe, "intentional" shots that made him look like a poster boy for a preppy brand. He looks more and more like Robert Redford. It's eerie. Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button is a more subdued version of how he played Death in Meet Joe Black. His eyes are enough for the talking and thinking. I think playing silent, scarred and inquisitive characters are well suited for him.
If I fell in love with Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth and in the Aviator, then in this movie, I love her even more. Here she plays an independent woman, a natural seductress and a dancer. She has turned into a HOT leading lady that you wouldn't be intimidated with. She has been playing super powerful and aggressive women in a men's world for quite some time. It's so refreshing and very impressive to see her play a careless, vulnerable and a talented dancer in the film.
Tilda Swinton, as usual plays odd characters, which earns her the accolade for being THE Tilda Swinton. Like Cate her characters are often very powerful and have a peculiar mind of their own. Her role here might be abrupt, but made an impression as always.
Taraji Henson deserves an applause for her breakthrough performance as Benjamin's accidental mother. Elias Koteas, although unrecognizable, is behind Monsieur Gateau who made a clock that turns backwards after the great war, which kicked off the story of Benjamin's case. Julia Ormond, still has that subdued prowess on screen, although she could've done more. Jason Flemyng and Jared Harris fit into their roles perfectly. No wonder the movie was acclaimed to have a brilliant cast. I wouldn't be that surprised if they won awards for cinematography, screenplay, best actors/actress and costume/make up.
Just a quick trivia I thought while wathing the movie, Brad Pitt might have a second-time charm for the leading ladies. He has already starred with Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond and Cate Blanchett before, in Burn after Reading, Legends of the Fall and Babel respectively. The Coolness case of Brad Pitt.
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