Benjamin Button

[aymanut]

This movie is great. It has style and imagination throughout. It is sad, funny, and worth watching.

[ilovemovies82]

There are individual moments in the movie that are wonderful. It's an impeccably made, beautifully crafted. And it's a visual marvel. Some of the most astonishing makeup and CGI effects I have ever seen in the movie. There is making Brad Pitt look like an old man, but even more impressive are the scenes where Pitt has to lood like he's in his late teen's/early 20's. It's truly astonishing.

Sadly, the movie does not equal the sum of it's parts. The biggest thing that prevents it from being a GREAT, as oppose to what it is which is just a good one, is the character of Benjamin Button ends up being uninteresting as a character. He's a blank. A cipher. There really is nothing to the character. He doesn't really chase after anything in the movie. He just sort of lets things happen to him. He has no real drive to him. As a character he's not fully formed and isn't interesting. None of this is Brad Pitt's fault. Pitt actually gives a marvelous performance. His chemistry with Cate Blanchett is wonderful too.

Also some scenes come off as an incredibly pretentious as well. And it's a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG movie. A little too long infact. I usually don't mind long movies but my butt was truly feeling numb by the end of the movie. Some scenes should have been cut. The framing device of the movie was unneccessary. They should have cut all of the scenes that take place in present time.

Despite my complaints, there were still moments of awe and wonder and beauty. The movie is good enough that I wish it were better.

7/10