A film with the epic scope of a crowd-pleaser but the subtlety of an introspective character study, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is at once intimate and sweeping, and one of the year's very best films.
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01/07/09
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
72 %
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Reviews Counted: 164
Fresh: 118
Rotten:46
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Consensus: Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an epic fantasy tale with rich storytelling backed by fantastic performances.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating]
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release: Dec 25, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $79,297,086
Synopsis: Director David Fincher and Brad Pitt team up for a third time with this adaptation of a F. Scott Fitzgerald short story. Pitt plays a man who is born 80 years old, but instead of aging, he grows... [More]
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton
Director: David Fincher
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Reviews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A fascinating tall tale until the incredible Tilda Swinton appears, vulnerable, full of regrets and compelling us to start thinking, but from then on, this is a tour de force.
01/06/09
Holds your interest, but it's ultimately pointless, and the ending lets him off the hook.
01/06/09
Fincher's strange romantic epic has its greatest impact the first time around. Overall, the film seems more like a beautiful curio than anything else, a sort of artsy fartsy Forest Gump.
01/06/09
The movie is curiously listless, with all of its passion apparently expended on its technical feats.
01/05/09
A heartfelt and loving film that is meant to help you remember to not take life for granted and treasure every moment.
01/04/09
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.
01/02/09
It's a speculative and enthralling fantasy about what it would be like to age in reverse.
01/02/09
With a running time of almost three slow-going hours, the movie definitely makes you feel as though you're aging forward.
01/02/09
The film's over two and half hours so go when you are in the mood to just escape into a fairy tale. Take a moment to search around the gorgeous sets and remember, a film like this doesn't get made these days. Wait, it does and it did.
01/01/09
Before taking into account anything about its story, characters, or performances, the film is an awe-inspiring technical achievement.
01/01/09
The requisite apprehensions about turning a story of only a few pages into a film of feature length are promptly dispatched -- or, well, protractedly dispatched.
01/01/09
This particular viewing experience is not like being on the edge of your seat, or laughing yourself silly, or being scared out of your wits. Benjamin Button washes over you in an almost hypnotic way. Call it cinematic mediation.
12/31/08
All the intense, pent up passion between Benjamin and Daisy which kept the film so taut and engrossing for an hour and a half is a mortifying drain once they unite and are free to express their devotion.
12/31/08
Brad Pitt is growing as an actor but his lack of chemistry with Blanchett robs the movie of its emotional core
12/30/08
Mostly, the film is an orgy of excess, in which Fincher indulges his passion for luxuriant image-making, with little regard for whether the story merits (or can withstand) such grandiose treatment.
12/30/08
While it's not a complete disaster, it's at least 45 minutes too long.
12/30/08
There's leisure to the storytelling, a splendor that captures the movie's celebratory but also melancholy ideas about our time on this mortal coil.
12/30/08
Top CriticLatest News for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
January 08, 2009:
DGA Announces '08 Nominees 
The Directors Guild has finalized its nominees for this year's awards, placing Ron Howard, Danny Boyle, Gus Van Sant, David Fincher, and -- you guessed it -- Christopher Nolan... More...
January 06, 2009:
Scripter Award Nominations Announced
The nominees for this year's Scripter Award, handed out by the USC Libraries for the best book-to-film adaptation, have been announced, with the screenwriters behind "Iron Man,"... More...
January 06, 2009:
Academy Names Shortlist for Visual Effects Oscar
The Academy has narrowed its choices for this year's visual effects Oscar, naming "Australia," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D,"... More...
January 05, 2009:
Producers Guild Unveils Film Nominations
The Producers Guild of America has announced its film nominations for 2008: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Dark Knight," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," and "Slumdog... More...
Related Forums for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Brad Pitt longawaited breakthrough
by: mackTN 1/6
by: mackTN 1/6
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