The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 2009

To fully understand and possibly enjoy The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, you need to understand that it was written by Eric Roth. Roth is probably most well known for writing Forrest Gump and Curious Case is the same type of story. A story which could only be told or written in America, it's as much about the country and what it represents as it is about a man who is born old and grows young.
The other unique element of Curious Cae is that it's director is David Fincher. An elegiac, nostalgic romantic tale is not what you would expect from the man who last brought us Zodiac and is best known for Seven and Fight Club. The only aspect of these films which links them is Brad Pitt. That and David Fincher eye for detail and the ability to construct a sumptuous mesmerising mis en scene.
The film starts well, and the CGI/prostethics are fantastically seamless, the young, aged Button resembling Pitt enough to not feel distracting and Pitt's performance early in the film is fantastic. The film carries is magical, elegiac theme on its sleeve and Pitt's southern American accent helps infuse the film with a wistful nostalgic quality which never really lets up.
The problems begin really as we move into the 2nd act. When Pitt's character comes of age, and I mean in the sense that Button is the age that Pitt needs no enhancements or make up effects. The main problem being that we never really learn or see Button achieving or doinf anything in the prime of his life. It's at this stage that Button's life links up with Blanchett's Daisy. A passionate love affair, and a coming together or two souls always destined to share the most important part of their life together. But it's here that Fincher falls down, as does Roth's script. The love affair never feels convincing, and it all feels far to cliched, shot through with soft tones. One scene conjures images of Lennon and Yoko's bed live in, as the two lovers seem to spend most of their relationship achieving absolutely nothing. Button is blessed with wealth, he manages to reconcile with his estranged father, and enjoy a loving relationship with Daisy. Other than that the second act fails to elaborate upon his life. As the film moves towards it final act and the climax the film begins to feel overlong and the narrative strands lose some of their poignancy.
Despite all of this Fincher's direction is superb, and he probably deserved an Oscar more than any other nomination. The script like a poor rehash of the themes which made Forrest Gump such a success, but lays on the sentiment to heavily. The script also brings in a framing story which doesn't in my opinion add anything additional. An aging (dying) Daisy (heavily prostethiced Blanchett) lies in bed whilst her daughter reads the journal which relates the story. Julie Ormand plays the role of Daisy's daughter and she is our window into this story. But the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina, beating against the window of the hospital room never feels significant or revelatory to the story of themes. Yes the film manages to drop in some of the key moments in America history (early in the film Button sits on a segregated bus with a black pigmy, later whilst yachting we see the launch of a Apollo mission, but button is merely a spectator, where Gump was an active particpant. Even his exploits in the second world war are simply him experiencing rather than influencing the events which occur.
There are real highlight though. Ironically a brief affair with Tilda Swinton Elizabeth Abbott feels more engrossing and emotional than his eventual relationship with Daisy. Pitt, as a old man, conveying the sense of wonder and anticipation of spending a few more hours with his first love. This is probably the best episode of the entire film, and serves to undermine the love affair with Daisy later.
Cate Blanchett is fantastic and proves once again why she is probably cinema's greatest leading lady. Not once is her performance not captivating. Pitt too handles himself with aplomb and although he may never reach the heights he achieved in Fight Club or Assassination of Jesse James he is still wonderfully watchable and relishes the opporunity to undermine his good looks, until off course his good looks become the focal point of the story.
The true truimph and ultimately the films failure is its depiction of a love story between two people who spend very little time together in their life. The early moments when Button resembles a old man and Daisy a young girl, and the final moments when an aging Daisy care for a child suffering dementia are those which truly hit the emotional punch. Sadly as previously stated for two people who do not need each other but come together once in their lives when the timing (and their ages briefly meet) is the film falls flat and undermines the tone and theme of the entire venture.
Thankfully not a resounding failure but certainly not the grandstanding success those involved promised. The prospect of a David Fincher film starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett with Tilda Swinton thrown in for good measure with a script by Eric Roth based on a F Scott Fitzgerald story promised to be a magnificent piece of cinema. At times it achieves this, but never consistently, and when it looses its way, it suffers worse than you'd hope for.
Enjoyable but it left a dissapointing feeling as the credits rolled. A great exploration of two peoples lives over a major period of American history. A film as much about the passing of time, as fate, love and those special moments in our lives which linger in the memorry forever. It's a shame the film will not do the same.

Frost / Nixon Review

Based on the famous play which was based on the actual interviews, and written by Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon is and feels like an adapted play. Very talky and also extremely static, the film, directed by Ron Howard, still manages to get the heart racing.

Having never seen the play, or the interviews, I went into the cinema with only knowledge of what David Frost managed to achieve and his reputation, which was built on the back of the the Nixon interviews. I therefore found the film revealing and intriging in equal measure. David Frost, played admirably by Michael Sheen, isn't the interview king I thought he was. And Richard Nixon is never portrayed as the villain I'd always seen him as.

The film benefits massively for the great supporting cast including Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Kevin Bacon, Toby Jones and Matthew Macfadyen. In fact there isn't a poor performance amongst them. But when the lights go on, the cameras start rolling, this is Frank Langella's film. Nominated for an Oscar, Langella imbues Nixon with the statesmenlike quality you'd expect from a former leader of the worlds greatest nation. But there is also humility, vulnerability and a desire to not be painted as a villain. Unlike say Bush, who seems only a fool, even in Oliver Stone's strong W, Nixon is an intelligent poloitical warrior, who overstepped the mark. Langella turns him into a ferocious opponent, one who Frost underestimates, even up to and including his eventual confession.

When the climax and resolution finally arrives, it's Langella's performance who demands our empathy. The feeling you get, upon his confession, isn't so much of a man who has completely and absolutely abused the power, but a man who carried the weight of the greatest nation in the world on his shoulders, and did what he believed was the correct way to act.

Peter Morgan's greatest achievement in the script, and no doubt the play, was to humanize the only President to resign from office. When I went into the film I had expected to see a savvy, cunning and masterful interview extract something the American government never seemed inclined to approach, instead, we saw the truth of a man, who had the most difficult job in the world, and I learnt, that Nixon, and ever other president to have served are only human, just like everybody else and is therefore vulnerable and fallible like the rest of us.

A triumph over performance and writing, Peter Morgan is probably one of the finest screenwriters working today, and with a cast including Langella and Sheen this film is entertaining and engrossing.