Wednesday, January 07, 2009
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
If Changeling is Angelina's vehicle to the awards, Benjamin Button's frail and withered form is the horse on which Brad is betting. Eric Roth takes F.Scott Fitzgerald's short story and attempts to make it into a fable. In the process he also extends it to a length that is just beyond the reach of one's patience. Button is born with an old man's body, a part that Pitt plays wonderfully. He then proceeds to grow younger, really slowly. Among all the weird characters that accept Button's affliction without flinching, his dad who finds him a freak is the only normal one. If you experience a heavy Forrest Gump undercurrent, do not fret. Eric Roth also adapted the screenplay for that movie and has adopted a similar narrative style with Button even sounding like one of Gump's Southern cousins. But for someone born as a grandpa, his fairy-tale lacked the magic. Like the screenplay, it relies on gimmicks and has no real story. The only thing I was curious about was when it would all end.
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4 comments:
i haven't watched the movie, but your blog reminded me of a George Castanza's monologue -
"The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death. What’s that, a bonus?!?
I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you go live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you’re too young, go collect all your super, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work forty years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink alcohol, you party, and you get ready for High School. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last 9 months floating with luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on tap, then you finish off as an orgasm! Amen.”
the comment turned out to be longer than the blog :-)
yup..i think everyone considered that at some point while watching this movie..my only disappointment was that the movie did not end the way Costanza posited :)
how is the musical score for the movie? this is the one by Desplat, right? strongest contender for Rahman at the globes/oscars
It was not something that was remarkable enough for me to remember later..Maybe I listened carefully to rahman cos I knew the fact beforehand but with button I didnt really notice it..it maybe cos i was fast asleep :)
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