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Friday, October 23, 2009

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


Ken Follett once wrote a wonderful piece in The Writer on how he believes 'high' and 'popular' literature differ. He says 'popular' literature is built around an idea or action, while 'High' literature is often concerned with the internal dilemmas of the character at the expense of plot or story.

Well, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button certainly has a neat idea behind it, that of a man who is born 'old' and slowly grows 'younger' as years pass. And it does carry Fitzgerald's name, so you'd expect some artistic merit. Is this the rare combination of both style and substance?

Eh, not so much. Keep in mind two things. One, the movie took the germ of the story from Fitzgerald and concocted a very liberal adaptation. And two, somehow they managed to take a movie that should hinge largely on an original, intiguing storyline and made it a strictly character driven film.

I liked the movie. No, I did, I swear. But I liked it in the same way I enjoy sitting down with an old man and listening to him tell the tale of his life. That, in a nutshell, is what this film offers: the rather mundane but well told memories of an average joe.
Is he born 'old'? Yes. Does he grow 'younger'? Yes. Does it miraculously seem to have no bearing on the plot or the shape of his life? Yes. You could remove the age gimmick from the movie and sell it, as is, as a bittersweet lifelong romance. He grows up in a nursing home, but it appears to be no different of an upbringing than that of any other child whose parent is a live-in nurse. He un-ages while serving on the high seas, but it's brushed away with a two sentence exchange with his captain. He spends a large amount of time onscreen as standard-age Brad Pitt. And so on.

To repeat, I liked the movie and don't regret a minute I spent watching it. But a masterpiece or high art it was not.

3.0 out of 4

5 comments:

Veronica said...

I thought it was spectacularly original and, though it was a pretty generic love story, it was tragic in a very interesting way. --Veronica

P.S. how's my favorite boss?

alphawoman said...

I saw the movie with sister around Xmas and then again at the dollar movie with my daughter. Truly like the movie enough to see it twice! Loved the line you're talking about ("Well, you do drink a lot...") the movie had a kind of Forest Gump like quality to it. I just liked it and like you, I make no apologies for liking it. As a matter of fact I liked it a lot more than Slumdog Millionaire.

Anonymous said...

Eh, this post was intended as a first draft, but was mistakenly posted and commented on before I could delete it.

- Slapinions

Slapinions said...

Ken R on FB: Hate it when you post instead of save or post in the future :o)

Bridgett said...

Not a fan of Brad Pitt (mostly because I love Jennifer Aniston), but I probably will watch this one. I've heard good things...