i have such high hope for this film . the preview for it be visually stunning and it look like david fincher have craft a modern masterpiece . fincher be come off the artistic triumph of zodiac and i assume this film would follow suit . a a director and fincher seem to have shake off his obsession with fashionable nihilism . in this light the curious case of benjamin button be a fascinating yet ultimately very hollow film . fincher be obviously a gifted filmmaker and so it be all the more disappointing that he have tether his story to banal sentiment that would be well suit to a greet card . the first hour of the film hold up quite well to the high standard set by zodiac . the digital cinematography of the piece be murky and but appropriate in that i believe fincher want it to look like an old photograph . the central conceit of the main character age backwards be clearly and cleanly establish and we be in immediate sympathy with benjamin button . anyone who be relate to or know someone who struggle with a horrible illness at a young age will respond to the early scene of this film very strongly . benjamin wide eyed naiveté a he try to grasp the complexity of his special existence be very touching and delicately dramatize . these early scene have real unforced charm . we get to know not only benjamin and but the kind african american woman who shelter him . we be also give a small window into the life of the other resident of the rest home where benjamin reside . there be very few movie that have even dare to explore the hardship and also the small compensation of advanced age . these thing be not usually discuss in popular entertainment . david fincher and screen writer eric roth should be commend for even broach some of these issue . unfortunately and time and again a challenging idea or issue be raise and be then immediately drop in favor of forced uplift or be simply gloss over completely . every time thing get interesting and the plot kick into gear and the film fall back on movie logic . the premise of the film be so provocative and that i have real hope after the first hour that we be go into uncharted narrative water . sadly and we be then give the usual pseudo revelation involve doom romance and familial tie . benjamin button be the window through which we view the other character . his condition set the stage for the more colorful character to behave in eccentric and idiosyncratic way . the film be essentially a reverse come of age story . a the film progress narrative problem start to crop up with alarming frequency . the central issue be that benjamin never really drive the story . he be a reactive character and because of this you lose interest in his goal . pitt try to invest a sense of humanity . however and the blank cipher that be benjamin button remain stubbornly vague . we know that benjamin love cate blanchett daisy and but be not give anything far to define his character . benjamin appear to be a pleasant companion and not much else . a pitt gradually morph into the greek god matinée idol that we all know him to be and the movie deflate like a balloon . benjamin relationship with daisy be endless and largely drama free . there be a sense of go through the motion with everything that happen in the second part of the narrative . the lover experience a short idyll and a child be bear and and then the narrative demand that benjamin leave daisy and go on a vision quest or something . the film do cate blanchett few favor a her character change from scene to scene depend on what the need of the narrative be . like pitt and she be play an idea rather than a real flesh and blood character . the two of them be so attractive and movie star like that it actually detract from what the tragedy of the film be suppose to be . you can not help but wonder why these two be not more thankful for the obvious gift they have be give . the rote and glamorous hollywood fantasy be like a tow line hold this film back from the darker water that it obviously need to plumb . the film employ a ridiculous connect device of have the elderly daisy die in a hospital bed in new orleans a hurricane katrina approach . she request her daughter and a haunt look julia ormond and read to her from benjamin diary . a diary that neither she nor her daughter have apparently ever look at before . this subplot be squirm inducingly awful . we can see every suppose secret the diary hold come a mile away . when these plot point be reveal fincher skip past them and deny them emotional weight and try to camouflage their utter banality . one would expect that the rapidly approach hurricane katrina would figure into the plot somehow and one would be wrong . like every other provocation in the film and the enormous human right disaster that be katrina be introduce and then shy away from . this bungling of a potentially provocative theme be unforgivable . fincher and roth should be ashamed for the short dramatic shrift they give katrina . the more i think about this film and the more i dislike it . fincher be too intelligent a filmmaker to embrace this sort of dishonest and hollywood and twaddle . on a technical level the film be second to none and which make it all the more of a let down that it contain no real idea about anything . why be it that entertainment must be so bereft of commentary relating to the real world . be escape all that filmmaker and audience aspire to anymore . we live in an era of unprecedented global tumult . i be sorry and but escape be just not good enough for these time . one need only look at the politically and culturally engage film of the seventy to see what we be miss now .