Home Entertainment
DVD Corner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
By Karen Lefkowitz |
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 Arresting, emotional and categorically curious, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is now available on DVD.
The fantasy drama is an adaptation of a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that languished before transitioning to the big screen. It took two major movie studios, a proficient director, an Oscar-winning screenwriter, a powerhouse producing duo and a major movie star to re-imagine the epic.
The first phase of a massive hurricane swirls outside the hospital room occupied by Daisy (Cate Blanchett). Attentive at her bedside is distraught daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond). At her elderly dying mother’s request, Caroline reads from a journal. Through the pages of this memoir, the story of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) unfolds.
After a baby’s mother dies in childbirth, the father (Jason Flemyng) abandons the baby, leaving him on the stoop of a retirement home to be discovered by caretaker Queenie (Taraji P. Henson). A doctor determines this is a newborn exhibiting the physical qualities of a man in his 80s--cataracts, paper-thin skin and arthritis. Despite his strange disposition, Queenie keeps the baby, naming him Benjamin.
Like the clock that ticks backwards that Daisy talks about in the beginning of the film, Benjamin is aging in reverse. Growing up, Benjamin encounters a number of colorful characters who enrich his unusual life. The most significant is Daisy, the granddaughter of one of the home’s residents, who forever alters the course of this curious life.
Benjamin matures in age as his body gets more youthful, and thus the adventures commence: traveling across the globe as a seaman on a tugboat, an affair with a married woman (Tilda Swinton), a stint in the Navy during WWII and a reunion with his father.
 In and out of each other’s lives but always in each other’s hearts, circumstances reunite Daisy and Benjamin and romance blooms. But how can love last when Benjamin will eventually revert to infancy, even as he ages chronologically?
Just shy of three hours, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button runs long, but with such an intriguing case, the only clock paid any mind is the one in the film moving in reverse. Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) elegantly tells Benjamin’s tale at every step, throughout the 1900s and into modern times.
Pitt and Blanchett are terrific performers who exhibit amazing chemistry. Their costars are equally impressive, especially Henson, who carries a lot of the film’s heart.
Filmed with the digital Viper camera, Button’s cinematography is stunning. Only the second film shot in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, the city is a character itself, evolving like Benjamin.
Birth and death, rejuvenation and never knowing where life’s journeys will lead you are all reoccurring themes wonderfully symbolized in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The special effect wizardry is also outstanding. From the makeup to the motion capture technology, each effect is a compelling storytelling tool.
 The two-disc Criterion Edition DVD (Paramount Home Entertainment, MSRP: $39.99) features more than three hours of special features, including an audio commentary with Fincher as well as a detailed behind-the-scenes documentary, “The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button.”
Fincher is informative and thorough throughout his commentary track; his precision is made apparent in his observations.
Lengthy like the motion picture but equally engrossing, the making-of documentary is organized in four sections. “First Trimester” covers the film’s development and preproduction--the long gestation of Button’s concept, and the multiple directors and actors who circled the project until the final cast and crew were set.
“Second Trimester” focuses on the production portion of the film, detailing the vision Fincher wanted for the movie. Included in this section are interviews with Button’s talented crew.
“Third Trimester” examines the postproduction process and extraordinary visual effects employed--work honored with an Academy Award.
Finally, “Birth” takes viewers to the official red-carpet premiere in New Orleans.
 Other bonus features on the two-disc release include still galleries, including costume designs and candid behind-the-scenes production photos, an essay by film critic Kent Jones and more.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is also available on Blu-ray (MSRP: $39.99), a format ideal for this cinematic work of art.
Towards the finale of the film, Benjamin says, “It’s never too late, or in my case too early, to be whoever you want to be. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.” From the first reel to the last, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an incredible journey.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
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