The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

David Fincher’s career as a director has been a strange one so far, and I still can’t decide if I like his movies or not. Audiences seem equally uncertain. Perhaps it’s because although Fincher’s films all have a certain style and economy, his stamp is not as obvious or noticeable as, say, the Coen brothers or Spielberg. A lot of people might have seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, or The Social Network, and not known they were watching the work of the same director as Se7en and Alien 3. He’s one of only a few directors, however, that I can say I’ve seen every one of his films, for one reason or another. The last one was Benjamin Button, which I’d never been as greatly interested to watch as some of his others. I have to say it’s marred by the cliché of an old woman narrating a story from her deathbed. Indeed, aside from the one unique aspect of Button’s existence (which you will probably know about even if you haven’t seen the film), there is nothing surprising about this movie. We follow his life story from beginning to end – it’s ups and downs, romantic or otherwise. He does not discover something revolutionary about the meaning of life, imparts no great wisdom, nor does he receive any. I kept expecting a twist, or a deeper meaning, but none came. There is no reason for what happens to him. The film is developed from a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and that is what it felt like – short. It should, ultimately perhaps, have been a short film. There is not enough here to be a full-length feature, despite it containing the whole life of a man. It does not have the depth or richness that a novel, or film, should have. There is also something very creepy about Brad Pitt as an old/young man, especially in his relationship with the girl. Perhaps this is what Fincher was going for - it’s sometimes very hard to tell what his intentions are. Despite displaying that same style and economy, the same careful attention to detail, the film feels empty, and I think you'd find it hard to find someone who ranks it among Fincher's best.