Posted on: May 26, 2009 Posted by: Jay NeuFutur Comments: 0

Rounding out our Blu-Ray coverage for tonight would have to be a review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The film itself is adapted from a 1921 F. Scott Fitzgerald work, in which a baby boy is born with all of the hang-ups and problems presented typically to older individuals. As the years go on, the older looking Benjamin seems to grow physically younger. With all of the events that have taken place in the time frame after Benjamin was born (which includes the second World War, the sixties, and the flood in New Orleans), a rich story is described surrounding love throughout the ages. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett turn in stellar work as Benjamin Button and Daisy Fuller, while Spencer Daniels, Elle Fanning, and Madisen Beaty do a tremendous job in establishing younger identities for the two main characters.

The Criterion release of the Blu-Ray for this title is nothing less than amazing, with the sheer amount of bonus features rivaling in time the feature presentation. Viewers will be treated with interviews featuring Pitt and Blanchett describing their experiences with the film, a commentary with the director of the film (David Fincher), and a heady breakdown of the process that had Pitt age considerably in the film. For those individuals that are more interested about the heady aspects of film creation, an essay by Kent Jones shines further light into specific decisions made in the course of creating the film.

Finally, the interview that is conducted with musical director Alexandre Desplat regarding the music created for the film seems to me to be the final puzzle piece that is needed to properly understand The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. While it is couched in a more intellectual tone than it, I see a lot of Forrest Gump mixed in with The Picture of Dorian Grey here; I feel that a similarly wide swath of fans will be able to appreciate what is here in the films.

Rating: 8.6/10

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Blu-Ray) / 2009 Paramount / 165 Minutes / http://www.paramount.com

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