One every, well not often enough comes along a film which excites you beyond comprehension. This happens more so with high octane blockbusters because, well that’s what promotional campaigns and trailers are intended to do, but very rarely does this occur with smaller genre films. For example as a huge Batman fan it’s fair to say that The Dark Knight had me frothing at the mouth for a good two years before I eventually laid eyes on the gorgeous little beauty in its entirety. For a certain few million the same case could be made for the Transformers movie, and well, to be honest my growing anticipation for Watchmen gets me a tad more rigid with every new poster and T.V spot (too much information?) Anyway back to the point in hand, I cannot remember the last time that I was so damn excited about seeing what’s essentially a drama since…possibly American Beauty which was a full decade ago.
‘Benjamin Button’ is startling in every conceivable way, the script is hypnotising in the way that Eric Roth has crafted a near three hour epic from what was originally a short story and manages to keep you spellbound for the entire running time which flashes by in a heartbeat – never at any stage does it feel like grind or anything close to it. The script is also wonderfully well balanced in the way it tells the sweeping grandiose fairy-tale and wrangles every last bit of emotion out of it and you, from the chokingly touching to the surprisingly, delicate comedy littered throughout.
Visually it’s in an absolute treat if a sedate one, it never dazzles you with anything bordering on stunning, but then it doesn’t need to with such a brilliantly told central story to carry it. David Fincher has done a masterful job without ever needing to tread into flamboyant territory. He has always been a director of awe-inspiring brilliance it just seems it’s taken this film to prove it to the masses -the film simply sparkles like a diamond through the murky waters of his past work. When Panic Room was released it always seemed like a compromise, a straight-forward techno-thriller designed to please a straight-forward mainstream audience, and more importantly the studio. Yet as well-crafted as it was its evident that the success came at the expense of the grimy, unsettling genius that created Seven, Fight Club and (the cruelly under-rated) The Game and set the free on an unsuspecting cinema audience. Fincher has long been considered by his fans to be amongst the very best directors working today and it seems that with ‘Benjamin Button’ he decided to prove it to the rest of the world. From its very inception it seemed like an odd career choice for Fincher yet what’s more baffling is the idea that a David Fincher film has just been nominated for 13 Oscars, but Christ on a bike, does it deserve each an every one.
In some senses it’s clear to see why the comparisons to Forrest Gump have been made yet that does a great disservice to ‘Benjamin Button’. Yes it is a film of immense scope that travels through and past several historical events on its way but, it navigates its complex time-frame with a far more delicate touch than Robert Zemeckis’ film. Ground-breaking events are nothing more than side-notes to the incredible central story of the incredible central character; Fincher brilliantly handles them as subtle nuances interwoven into the tapestry of the epic tale. World War II id dealt with within not much more than a single scene and is still touchingly personal to the protagonist while the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to the Moon Landing is one of the beautiful lasting memories of the whole film.
Watching the film feels like the sort of comforting experience that is garnered from watching a favoured, childhood movie. Even though it’s your first viewing, it feels like you’re watching it for the umpteenth time and gave me the same warm sensation as a screening of The Goonies or Bugsy Malone would – if they released the film on VHS it would come already worn out. More importantly it feels like a classic movie, both in scope and in style which is something that Hollywood no-longer produces enough of. It feels like its come from a time when the ‘Silver Screen’ still existed. When playing cards actually involved card, not simply wiggling a computer mouse. When tobacco didn’t kill you, or at least you didn’t accept that it would. It’s the movie equivalent of curling up under a blanket with someone you love, in your pyjamas, in front of an open fire, with a bottle of wine, Red and with a box of chocolates – which is exactly how it should be viewed when it arrives on DVD.
* * * * * Those be Five Stars!
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