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Movies / Upcoming / The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 213

Fresh: 154

Rotten:59

Average Rating: 7.1/10

Consensus: Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an epic fantasy tale with rich storytelling backed by fantastic performances.

Australian Rating: M

Runtime: 2 hrs 46 mins

Genre: Dramas

Australian Theatrical Release:
Dec 26, 2008 Wide

US Box Office: $127,490,802

Synopsis: At once epic in scope and intimate in detail, David Fincher's THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is certainly the director's most emotional film to date (though FIGHT CLUB and SEVEN don't offer... At once epic in scope and intimate in detail, David Fincher's THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is certainly the director's most emotional film to date (though FIGHT CLUB and SEVEN don't offer much in the way of competition). Loosely based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, this romantic drama tells the tale of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), born in 1918 in New Orleans as a baby with wrinkles, cataracts, and arthritis. Benjamin will age backwards, getting younger as he watches those around him growing older. Included in that group are his adoptive mother, Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), and Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the love of his life whom he meets when she is just a little girl and he is an old man. They age in reverse, but despite Benjamin's globe-trotting adventures, their lives repeatedly intersect. The script from Oscar winner Eric Roth bears more than a few hallmarks in common with his earlier work on FORREST GUMP: both adaptations cross decades and continents. But BENJAMIN's script or even the fine acting aren't its most impressive accomplishment; the technology--both CGI and makeup--used to make Benjamin and Daisy age are remarkable, and makes the film entirely believable, but they're certainly aided by fine performances from both Pitt and Blanchett. The triumph of technology only serves to underscore the beauty of this film and of the love story at its heart. [More]

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas, Julia Ormond, Elle Fanning

Director: David Fincher

Director: David Fincher
Screenwriter: Eric Roth
Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Cean Chaffin
Composer: Alexandre Desplat
Studio: Paramount Pictures

[See More Credits]

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  • Trailer 2
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    Trailer
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    Daisy Returns
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    Never Had a Woman
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  • Meeting in the Middle
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    Introducing Benjamin
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    I Came Home
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    Under the Table
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  • Tent Revival
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    Brad Pitt Interview
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    RT Review Revue - Benjamin Button, Bedtime Stories, Marley and Me, Doubt, The Spirit, Valkyrie
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  • Rendering Baby Benjamin
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1 - 4 of 13

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Reviews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

For a melodrama concerned with emotional pain, this fairy tale favours formal trickery over human connection to a fault.

Full Review Source: Time Out Sydney | comment Comment
02/05/09
David Fear
Time Out Sydney

It's a speculative and enthralling fantasy about what it would be like to age in reverse.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
01/02/09
Sandra Hall
The Age (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A fulfilling and grandiose journey.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
12/26/08
Matthew Pejkovic
FILMINK (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is a beautifully made film ... but ... it is also a piece of cinematic artifice, in which the manufacture of it stands between it and us -- big on novelty and sentimentality but short on tension and interest for the audience

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment 1 Comment
12/19/08
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a speculative and enthralling fantasy about what it would be like to age in reverse.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
12/18/08
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

a slow starter, and it never really speeds up into a thrilling film, save for one scene of war on the ocean. However, it's not meant to be fast-paced or riveted with action.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
06/14/09
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Yes, Button can be glorious, but the Hollywood glamour drowns the soul that it so needs. Plus, there is the insistent reminder that we will all lose our looks and die.

Full Review Source: BET.com | comment Comment
06/10/09
Clay Cane
BET.com

With fine acting all around, and Fincher's typically meticulous filmmaking engagingly, if coldly, transportive above and beyond Roth's mediocre script, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button bears examining. [Blu-ray]

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
05/17/09
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

... A beautiful, heartbreaking film ... packed with tender, loving performances and some of the most astounding visual effects we have ever seen.

Full Review Source: Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) | comment Comment
05/15/09
Greg Maki
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD)

an outsized romantic epic built on a potentially flimsy bit of fantastical whimsy that instead becomes an affecting allegory for the fleeting joys of life

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
05/11/09
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

The movie is gentle and sweet. Nothing more. Nothing less. And told most poetically.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
05/01/09
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

It's a curious story indeed, a long and rambling exploration of time and what we make of it.

Full Review Source: Screenwize | comment Comment
03/21/09
Simon Weaving
Screenwize

It is the cream of the crop in the categories of cinematography, editing, art direction, sound mixing, costume design, special visual effects, makeup and original musical score.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Spectrum | comment Comment
03/21/09
Keith Cohen
Entertainment Spectrum

An exceptionally well made movie with strong performances, most notably those by Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton, both at the top of their games.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
03/01/09
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

On the one hand, it is a masterful piece of craftsmanship, replete with outstanding cinematography, set design and special effects makeup work. On the other hand, it's slow-paced and overstuffed, not to mention

Full Review Source: Sean the Movie Guy | comment Comment
03/01/09
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy

This is a kindly, sweet-hearted film, filled with some truly touching stuff about impermanence, love and loss. But at a languorous 165 minutes it’s old before its time.

Full Review Source: SFX Magazine | comment Comment
02/12/09
Nick Setchfield
SFX Magazine

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an anodyne Hollywood film that offers a safe and sanitised view of life and death. It’s Forrest Gump goes backwards.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment 1 Comment
02/12/09
Cosmo Landesman
Sunday Times (UK)

This bizarre American odyssey carries a lot of cultural freight, but fails to delivers it to a destination of any significance.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
02/12/09
Philip French
Observer [UK]

Fincher treats Roth's script with a visual bravura and narrative gusto far beyond the usual capacities of the Hollywood mainstream. Benjamin Button is a poetic, virtuoso feat, as eloquent and rapturous as CGI-era cinema gets.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
02/10/09
Jonathan Romney
Independent
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
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Latest News for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

May 04, 2009: RT on DVD: Benjamin Button, Bollywood Kung Fu, and a Special Twilight Set
Award season armchair jockeys should check out a few notable Oscar and Golden Globe contenders this week, including David Fincher's visionary epic film about a man who ages... More...

February 01, 2009: Slumdog's Danny Boyle Wins DGA Award
Danny Boyle takes home another win for Best Director from the Director's Guild of America -- could Oscar gold be just around the corner? See who else was nominated this year in... More...

January 22, 2009: Oscar Nominations Announced: Benjamin Button Leads With 13
The Oscar nominations for 2008 have been announced. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leads with 13 nominations, while The Reader makes a surprisingly strong showing. The Dark... More...

January 15, 2009: BAFTA Nominations Announced Opens in new window
The full list of nominations for this year's BAFTA Film Awards. More...

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