The Curious Case of Benjamin
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 23:38 Anyway, The Curious Case of Benjamin button was a good film, and I did enjoy it. I thought it was about 30 minutes too long (like my posts), and there were some inconsistencies, but the production values were over the top good and the sound quality (mixing and recording, both very important to me) was great.
The main disappointment, I guess, is that this living from old to young wasn't really significant here. Benjamin was a rather unremarkable character, and it didn't much matter to me if he started young, old, or in the middle. I mean, what does he contribute to our understanding of anything? At least Merlin (In EB White's Once and Future King) was born old (and grows younger as time goes by) and actually KNEW something. Merlin knew the future, but didn't know the past. Benjamin doesn't know anything.
The psychological message about reflection is there, of course. We try to look back on our lives sometimes through the eyes of our youth, which can be enlightening and revitalizing. It tends to make each small moment seem special. (A much more effective film for this, imo, is the classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. ) Unfortunately, The absence of reflection in Curious is negative, sending the message that life is meaningless no matter how, or in which direction you live it, because the protagonist is a, "duh, I dunno" kinda guy. That would be okay if it had an Existentialist message--but it doesn't. It doesn't have ANY message, lol. No symbolism...nada.
Everyone, including Brad Pitt, did a good job. The writing, or adaptation thereof, is the problem. We seem to be incapable of telling a good story any more, perhaps forgetting what a good story is. So far, the best film I've last year is Wall-e, but I haven't seen that many, and I don't even recommend that one all that much.
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