I couldn’t remember what was the most Oscar nominations a film has received. After a quick Google search I found out it was 14 (Titanic & Ben Hur.) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leads this year’s slate with 13. That’s still an awful lot. I saw it this past weekend and it’s clearly Oscar worthy.
Based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button chronicles the life of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), the son of a button maker who ages backwards. At birth he resembles a shriveled baby with arthritis and cataract and as the film goes on he progressively ages younger and younger. As any biopic, Benjamin goes on a number of different adventures working on a tugboat crew that travels throughout Europe. All throughout the film is his quest for the heart of childhood friend Daisy (Cate Blanchett), a dancer who moves to New York to make it big.
The film has all the ingredients for an Oscar epic: the story of a man’s life through various trails and tribulations in search of one goal; a protagonist who also has to struggle with a huge obstacle that he overcomes; the chase for one person’s heart that is finally realized; beautiful cinematography; dazzling effects; and strong acting. There may not be any Celine Dion on the soundtrack but to me that is a plus.
I found it sad to watch Benjamin grow younger, outliving everyone he meets. It wasn’t that Benjamin lived any longer than the people around him- it’s just when you think of it, some people will see 
everyone around them go as time goes on for time stops for no one. It is said in the movie that everyone is born alone and dies alone. You may think it would be great to age backwards as the people you know grow older- however I felt sorry for Button as in his later years he became just as helpless as a toddler, as he would of been as a senior. However I would rather be a senior, still able to talk and think (even if it was in some diminished capacity.)
Two things about Cate Blanchett: I think she was hot in the film, there’s something about red heads that get me. However I also found myself hating her character throughout the story. I found the change from a carefree artsy type who seem to only have lukewarm feelings for Button to devoted partner in her later years hard to fully buy into. I feel like she settled for him as the story went on and I liken her journey to Jenny in Forrest Gump.
Looking at the nominations that the film received I think that a good number of them are well deserved. I was very impressed with the abilities to make the 45 year old Pitt look much younger towards the end of the film. Fincher employed a new camera system called Contour to achieve some of the effects. I would make it a favorite in visual effects and makeup. One nomination I do not agree so much with was that of Taraji P. Henson who played Queenie, Benjamin’s de-facto mother. I just felt that her performance was nothing special even though she did play a role in defining the values that Button would live by. Perhaps her performance received the “Oscar bump” due to the front runner status of the film, but then again I’m not a critic.
So Benjamin Button sits atop the nomination pile as the clear favorite to win big, but what do you think?
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