Don’t miss “Benjamin Button”

By ANDY CARROLL
UNLEASHED STAFF
Each of us fears getting older and the changes that come with age. But would that attitude be different if our bodies got younger instead of older as the years pass by?
That idea is at the center of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a fantasy drama about a man whose body ages backward rather than forward. With huge star talent, a $150 million production budget, and some of the heaviest Oscar buzz of any picture this year, high expectations have been placed on the film.
And what is delivered is a film both grand in scope and intimate in the ways it displays and develops its characters. Most importantly, it serves not only as a crowd pleaser, but as an emotional reflection upon life and the experiences that ultimately define us.
Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is a man who has a most unusual condition. When he was born in 1918, he had the physical condition of a man on his way to the grave. Abandoned at the doorstep of a retirement home by his scared father (his mother died in childbirth), he is taken in by a young woman named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), one a worker at the home who’s believed to be incapable of giving birth to a child of her own.
As the years go on, Benjamin’s physical condition continues to improve and he continues to look younger and younger.
Before and during his teenage years, two crucial things happen to Benjamin. The first, in 1930, is his introduction to Daisy Fuller, a girl several years younger than him who will go on to become the love of his life. The second, which occurs in 1936, is the beginning of a time aboard a boat as a seaman, which takes him to an affair with a married woman (Tilda Swinton) in Russia and eventually into a night naval battle during World War II.
When Benjamin returns home in 1945, he finds that many of the residents of the retirement home have since died and Daisy is now a fully grown woman (Cate Blanchett). Over the next few years, as he becomes younger and she becomes older, Benjamin falls in love with Daisy, a relationship that comes to have its ups and downs throughout the next few decades. Benjamin knows that he will continue to love Daisy when she is old and gray, but will she still love him when he is a child?
The complications of age are dealt with often in the film, through Benjamin’s condition as well as traditional aging patterns. Most of the time, it is done so with poignancy, though there are numerous occasions where it is intended for laughter.
From the beginning, death is an issue in Benjamin’s life. It is brought up that he must suffer the burden of watching people not only die, but lose their physical prowess with age. While it would seem that Benjamin would have the opposite, going into his prime late in life rather than early, he instead fears getting younger because it means he will not be able to experience it with the people he cares about.
The aging contrast between Benjamin and Daisy is an added element that makes their relationship all the more intriguing, but also heartbreaking.
Visually, the film is a sumptuous feast for the eyes. Visual effects and makeup are used to change the ages of both Pitt and Blanchett. Thanks to this remarkable work, the physically younger Benjamin bears a stunningly realistic resemblance to a younger Pitt, while the techniques used to age Blanchett as an 80-year-old on her deathbed make her look unrecognizable. The cinematography is also stunningly beautiful, while the sets and costumes change appropriately with each new decade covered within the film.
The most surprising performance comes from Pitt. His turn here is surprisingly restrained and free of the expected emotions. Despite all the death around him, he is never once shown crying onscreen. Some will feel that his work is a little too cold, but it is a solid move that fits in well with the nature in which the story is told. (We come to know Benjamin better through his story than through his actions.)
Blanchett shares excellent chemistry with Pitt, and holds her ground with a performance that is emotionally affecting in its own right. Because of the bond they share, every bit of joy and heartbreak feels so real. Henson’s role as Benjamin’s adoptive mother, though small and mostly finished after the first third of the film, is an adorable one that will give viewers plenty of reason to smile.
Oddly enough, “Benjamin Button” is directed by none other than David Fincher, a man whose directing credits include hard-edged films like “Seven” and “Fight Club.” “Sentimental” isn’t a word that one would expect to associate with Fincher’s work, but he never backs away from the sentimentality of this film, and the effect is a moving experience rather than a schmaltzy one.
Its message about appreciating the beauty of life and the opportunities we take (and those we don’t) is a powerful one that can connect with viewers young and old. This is a beautiful and moving film not to be missed.

— Andy Carroll is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. He attends La Salle High School.