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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:33

Fresh:26

Rotten:7

Average Rating:7.2/10

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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  • Meeting in the Middle
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    RT Review Revue - Benjamin Button, Bedtime Stories, Marley and Me, Doubt, The Spirit, Valkyrie
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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 - 15 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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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
David Fear
Time Out Sydney
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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
Sandra Hall
The Age (Australia)
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A fulfilling and grandiose journey.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
12/26/08
Matthew Pejkovic
Matthew Pejkovic
FILMINK (Australia)
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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
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
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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
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
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Remove "curious" from the title and replace it with "twee and pointless", and you're close to it. What a incredible shaggy-puppy of a movie, a cobweb-construction patched together with CGI, prosthetics, gibberish and warm tears.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment 10 Comments
02/06/09
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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Aptly for a film so concerned with time, Button is 13 minutes shy of three hours and just flies by. If this is Fincher selling out, can he sell out more often please?

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment 1 Comment
02/05/09
Ian Freer
Ian Freer
Empire Magazine
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It is a tedious marathon of smoke and mirrors. In terms of the basic requirements of three-reel drama the film lacks substance, credibility, a decent script and characters you might actually care for.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
02/05/09
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
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The A-list cheekbones, CGI wow factor and sensous cinematography can't save it. This is Hollywood at full bluster -- spectacular and sometimes iconic, but emotionally half baked.

Full Review Source: MovieTime, ABC Radio National | comment 1 Comment
01/02/09
Jason Di Rosso
Jason Di Rosso
MovieTime, ABC Radio National
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leaves you colder than it should, and it shouldn't leave you cold at all.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment 11 Comments
12/29/08
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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The film quickly outgrows any sense of gimmickry and matures into a one-of-a-kind meditation on mortality, time's inexorable passage and the fleeting sweetness of love.

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment 1 Comment
12/29/08
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
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Benjamin Button is little more than Gump by way of Dorian Gray. It plays too safe when it should be letting its freak flag fly.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment 4 Comments
12/29/08
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button sighs with longing and simmers with intrigue while investigating the philosophical conundrums and emotional paradoxes of its protagonist’s condition.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment 1 Comment
12/25/08
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
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Given the resources and talent here, quite a movie might have resulted. But it's so hard to care about this story.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 38 Comments
12/25/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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The film, ambitious if flawed, also is lyrical and melancholy as it tells the story of a man aging backward.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
12/24/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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A richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
11/24/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
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1 - 15 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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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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