Stars:
*** 1/2
Rating: PG-13 for brief
violence, sexual content and language
Run
Time: 2
hours, 47 minutes
Edgy auteur
David Fincher (“Fight Club”) puts imagination to the test in this sentimental
fantasy that packs a visual punch.
In early
century Louisiana an unusual child is born on an unusual day – the day that a
local watchmaker unveils a backwards moving clock to signify sadness over a
painful personal loss. The baby looks like a wizened old man and isn’t expected
to live.
With the
persistent nurturing of boarding house doyenne Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) --
who found the abandoned child on her doorstep – baby Benjamin beats the odds
and continues to thrive, so well that he appears to grow younger as he advances
in years.
In
whimsical “Amelie” fashion Fincher and screenwriter Eric Roth (who based
“Button” on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1921 short story of the same name) skew
heavily to mortality and fate and the way we are touched by those
we meet along the way.
To that end
Benjamin’s meeting with 7-year old Daisy (Elle Fanning) has a profound effect
on his life, her presence a stabilizing force that ebbs and flows throughout
the years. Benjamin and the adult Daisy (Cate Blanchett) inexplicably meet
halfway on the age spectrum – on her way to the graceful golden years and his
to ultimate youth – a joyous and profoundly sad state of affairs.
There’s a
lilting loveliness to the lives and loves of this beguiling man-child – a tour
of duty on a hardscrabble tugboat that doesn’t really work (too long), a
passionate romance with a “plain as paper” ambassador’s wife (Tilda Swinton)
that does. The core theme is you never know what’s coming, applicable to every
facet of the capable and clever narrative.
“Button”
wouldn’t be the success it is without the abundant gifts of Pitt and Blanchett
who are asked to inherit the subtleties of childhood to old age without missing
a beat. With the help of some eye-popping technology (Pitt’s wrinkled face on a
Gollum-like body) and astounding age makeup (Blanchett in her early 20s, 50s,
80s – wow) the pair are virtual knockouts.
Human
exploration is king; coming of age with a local hooker, a brief tussle with
WWII, treks to the Himalayas and a late-in-life connection with a long lost
father of Button’s Buttons fame (Jason Flemyng). Brad Pitt voice-over is
emotionally detached but beneficial.
“Button” is
more journey than movie, every scene an artistic impression of the nuances of
maturing. If, according to Benjamin Button, our lives are defined by
opportunities, even those we miss, don’t let this be
one of them.