The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

In some ways, people will already have seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button before the film even begins rolling. We have a protagonist misunderstood for his differences which, along with a diverse ensemble of characters, help shape his life, and a struggle with love for "the one that got away." Sound familiar? Sounds a bit like 1994's Forrest Gump to me.

It comes as little surprise, since screenwriter Eric Roth penned both scripts. But his efforts with Button yield more satisfying results. Why?

Having David Fincher direct certainly doesn't hurt. But this time around, Roth re-worked previously-written material, in this instance a lesser-known short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The original Benjamin Button wasn't so much a story as it was a labor, a disappointingly sardonic look at a truly interesting concept - being born old and growing younger with the passage of time.

Here, the recycled elements of Gump have helped create an adaptation that surpasses its original inspiration. Every character is vital to the protagonist's life, resulting in a story that becomes less a chore than a joy to soak up. The film affords each star its shining moment, (even Cate Blanchett!) and makes the story's three-hour run time breeze right by.

Perhaps the biggest reason for that is one of the film's strongest aspects (and the first we notice), its artistic merit. Benjamin Button is one of the most visually stunning movies you'll ever see. We all know going in of the monumental task it faced in presenting the wonders of aging (or is it timelessness?), and they've succeeded resoundingly in that respect. But even more impressive is the scene construction; each one as vivid and beautiful as the last. You're not just watching for three hours, but experiencing this story.

Few scenes achieve the same visual quality as the opener, the night of Benjamin's (Brad Pitt) birth in 1918. Born on the night World War I ends, Benjamin's aforementioned condition sees him promptly abandoned by his father (his mother dies in childbirth) and left with nursing home attendant Queenie (Taraji P. Henson). His early life sees a myriad of different encounters - from a ship captain who gives him his first real job to a resident of the nursing home whose sole purpose seems to be for comic relief, discussing the seven times he's been struck by lightning.

But despite their varying degrees of apparent significance, the characters each provide a vital aspect of the story: the lessons they give to Benjamin inspired by their experiences with him. As Pitt ages (or, rather, grows younger - either way it's astounding to watch), the messages grow more profound, and every character contributes at some level.

It might be Elizabeth Abott (Tilda Swinton), who gives Benjamin his first kiss and, 30-odd years later, reminds him that anything is possible in life; it might also be his father Tom (Jason Flemyng), whose actions teach Benjamin that any and all anger must be let go and forgotten at some point. What hits hard is the casual nature in which the majority of these lessons are delivered - almost as mild banter between friends, since Benjamin never reveals his true age and condition.

Except to his childhood friend Daisy (Cate Blanchett). Her relationship with Benjamin is sort of like Jenny's with Gump; you want it to happen, but it doesn't seem likely. And then it happens.

But for all the build-up, their relationship ends up becoming a bit of a downer. Blanchett and Pitt excel throughout the movie except, strangely, in their scenes together. At its core, the movie is a love story, yet the romantic elements end up being the weakest of any in the movie. Poor? Certainly not - and things definitely improve as the movie goes on. But you'd expect them to feel a bit more natural.

At some point in the 1960's - just after the Beatles play Ed Sullivan and just before the horrendous fashion trends we see emerging in the latter part of the decade - Benjamin and Daisy hit equilibrium. She's gotten old enough and he's gotten young enough for them to be at the same level, and things appear perfect for them. And even with the apparent lack of chemistry between the two, Pitt and Blanchett still manage to convey that element of the sublime, that point at which we feel anything is possible.

That's basically the essence of the movie, though. In an awards season filled with historical representations (Milk, Frost/Nixon) or thinking-man's movies (Doubt, The Dark Knight), this movie is the escape we so desperately need. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button may have a simple lesson, but it is far from a simple film. It's a magical journey - a true triumph in a year that gave us so many duds. It's beautiful, it's uplifting and - pardon the pun - it's timeless.

3.5 stars out of 4

Babel (2006)

It seems somewhat ironic that a Biblical story meant to warn of the dangers of misguided ambition could lead to a film comprised of just that - misguided ambition. In the Bible, the Tower of Babel built to connect the human race to the heavens - not, in fact, to worship God. (This little snag led to God's separation of people and languages and, essentially, the world as we now know it.) It tells of the dangers of doing great things for the wrong reasons, which is interesting to consider in the face of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's film, Babel. The movie focuses on a hit-or-miss (mostly miss) collection of characters whose actions all but eliminate any possible sympathy we'd have for them. It's essentially the polar opposite of the biblical tale; forget factoring motives into the equation of greatness - there's nothing great about them to speak of.

Babel gives us four different stories, each with characters from different dramatically flawed backgrounds. After the American couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett) - positively glamorous by comparison, we get more initially compelling personae like Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi), the Japanese deaf and mute girl who struggles for acceptance by those around her. It's all very emotional, and you'd almost be moved if part of the reason for her alienation weren't the fact that she's a complete pervert - sexually assaulting doctors and policemen one minute, only to make like Britney Spears and flash her...well, you know...the next.

The film's other factions are a set of rural Moroccan brothers and the family of the American couple's Mexican nanny (Adriana Barraza), but in the end, the only ones we care about are Pitt and Blanchett. Don't snicker; throughout the film, they're the only ones who remain completely innocent and likable. Sadly, no conflict is more dire than theirs - the result of truly stupid maneuvers by those in the remaining three sagas. Unfortunately, we shift back and forth so much to the ones we don't care about that we start to question why they're there, which ultimately diminishes the effect of those we do.

Misguided ambition? Let's examine Babel. The film came out just months after another (superior) cultural conflict film, Crash, had won Best Picture at the Oscars. The predecessor was a powerful film that delivered its message - yes, it actually had one - through a wide variety of truly compelling characters. That's where the greatness came from; even when characters were complete assholes, you wanted to know what happened to them - you cared enough to want to.

Babel, on the other hand, has no real message at all. The movie runs marathons without actually taking a step in any direction, and seems to have channeled all its ambition for the wrong reason - to continue on and possibly upstage the trend set by Crash. Sound familiar? The film's flawed characters and pretentious nature liken it to climbing the mythical tower by which it was inspired; it's a seemingly never-ending task, and its drawbacks far outweigh the rewards. Sure, it's nifty how they took a Biblical story into a modern context - but there's more to film-making than that, and Babel simply doesn't have it. Without a doubt one of the worst nominees for Best Picture that I can think of. Watch carefully, if at all.

1 star out of 4
3/10

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Nineteen years is a curiously long time to wait between sequels. It's essentially a generation gap, where characters can either pick up right where they left off or change dynamically into the older, wiser people their actors have become. Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones is somewhere in the middle. His hair has grayed considerably since the last Indiana Jones flick, Last Crusade, but his spirit and sense of adventure remain as bright as ever. Without these, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would almost certainly fall flat on its face.

This latest installment starts us off with Indy up to his old tricks - he's stuffed in a trunk with his sometimes-pal Mac (Ray Winstone) by some new adversaries - Russian communists. (It IS 1957, after all.) After he meets their leader, Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett - unlikable as ever) we learn, to some degree, of Indy's quest - he must track down the mysterious crystal skull to prevent it from reaching the wrong hands. But the limited capacity in which this is revealed, combined with the poor overall execution of the scene render it completely unnecessary.

Without spoiling too much, the crystal skull leads them into territory you wouldn't expect to find in Indy's world. The nature of the film's plot mirrors the nature of the film itself: people going in a direction that, perhaps, they shouldn't.

The rest of the film is what you'd expect, loaded with stunning visuals and starring a bigger cast than ever before. The feel of the filmmaking is still there, but the underlying spirit that carried the past films to success (even the mediocre Temple of Doom) is all but gone. Crystal Skull must instead rely on a CGI overdose and far too many cheap one-liners to get by, and it suffers as a result.

Seeing John Hurt reduced to mere code speech for much of the film kills a part of the soul inside, and Shia LeBoeuf still hasn't reached that point where I'll stop thinking of him as "annoying ex-Disney Channel star" and start considering him a serious actor. But fortunately, the movie's all about Ford - charismatic as ever and fit enough to make us think Spielberg and Lucas took 19 months off after Last Crusade, instead of 19 years. But while Ford's aged gracefully, he's the only one who has - and ultimately, that's not enough to save this one.

2.5 stars out of 4
6 out of 10