I can tell this season is going to be one sweaty release after another as we wait with baited breath to see what the critics think. With the odd and somewhat annoying refrain of “detachment” coming up again and again, how nice to see a critic actually give the film an unqualified rave, Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Report writes:
The fantasy element in F. Scott Fitgerald’s 1922 short story, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” in which a man ages backwards, does not begin to suggest the urgent drama and romantic fatalism that director David Fincher and writers Eric Roth and Robin Swicord have so strikingly brought to the screen in the movie version. Fitzgerald’s story is little more than a plot gimmick. Yet the film transforms this gimmick into an epic tale that contemplates the wonders of life — of birth and death and, most of all, love.
Superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date, the audience for this Paramount/Warner Bros. co-production is large. Strong boxoffice should ensue.
Although hard to pigeonhole, the picture comes closest to Latin American magic realism, which juxtaposes the fantastic with the realistic. The film shares elements with another Eric Roth-written film, “Forrest Gump,” wherein a most unusual man sets out on an odyssey through 20th century American history. But Fincher, an unusual but winning choice as director, makes certain that “Benjamin Button” has none of the whimsy or coy historical revisionism of “Forrest Gump.”
We’ll sweat them out one by one, Oscar watchers, that we will. Meanwhile, Tom O’Neil’s Gold Derby lists the various reactions around the web on the film. This is a very odd year indeed. Somehow I think all of the film critics are sitting in a room somewhere laughing at us.
7 Responses for "Hollywood Reporter Rave for Benjamin Button"
The Golden Globes will most likely pour nominations for Australia, so it is definitely a contender for Oscar Best Picture.
golden globes have no translation to oscars. ask into the wild and dreamgirls. but i think this is a very good sign for brad pitt’s best actor chances. honeycutt calling it his best performance to date and pretty much every but kris saying it is indeed a standout perf
And I don´t know where I will watch TCCOBB!
And I need do it now!
Yes, I’m so glad that Benjamin Button is going to win Best Picture. I can’t wait to see this flick. It looks so good and Brad Pitt is such a movie star.
Ahh…the power and artistic interpretation of the short story! As a writer, I can only imagine the difference in consideration that I put into a short story today (GAWD I hope this gets optioned into a movie) as Fitzgerald did in the early 20th.
Into the wild and dreamgirls didnt make it at the oscars because there are only 5 slots for best picture. Atonement, No country for old men, there will be blood, juno, the departed, little miss sunshine, and at least a hundred more that did well at the Globes became oscar best picture winners or nominees.
An enjoyable movie, but very similar to the much better Forrest Gump. My overall feeling was the same scene seemed to be repeated again and again in slightly different guises.
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