I did enjoyed the movie, it was about 90 minutes too long, but I liked it. I do, however, have some very mixed feelings. I am happy the movie was made, allowing a group of people who may have forgotten F. Scott Fitzgerald the chance to rediscover him. On the other hand, I am afraid if they go looking for the love story from the movie in the short story they will be disappointed.
As I stated earlier, if I had to say yes or no to the movie I would say yes. It is a beautifully done movie. I would love to move into any of the homes, or sets. Visually, I loved it.
I loved the first 45 minutes of the movie, where Benjamin is the old man-child. And I love the end when he is coming to the end of his life. I have two tender spots in my heart, children and old men. So, I didn't have a fighting chance.
But have I mentioned the movie was almost 3 hours long? I would say the movie was about 1 hour too long.
Even though I basically liked the movie, it is not without its problems. I have some big problems with the movie and I have some nit-picking with the movie. The largest complaint is it is not the same story that F. Scott Fitzgerald put on paper. In fact, if the lead character was not named Benjamin Button, he (Fitzgerald) would not recognized his own story. I don't want to be one of those purists, who think that the source material needs to stay pure, because I do understand that adaptations and changes need to occur to bring a printed source to the screen. But some of the changes were just pointless and stupid.
First, OK they decided that Benjamin and his Dad did not have to live together,which is a main part of the short story, far more important than his love relationship, but did they need to change Dad's name from Roger to Thomas. Is Roger that odd of a name that they didn't think the viewing audience would relate? Stupid.
Speaking of changing names, I get Hildegarde being too clunky for modern viewers. But I thought it was a cheap trick to rename his love interest Daisy. Do they really believe that Fitzgerald could not come up with other names? Or were they too stupid to come up with another name? I mean really there are thousands of names out there, and they decided on Daisy. They may as well have renamed her Zelda.
Have I mentioned the movie is too long?
I do love that Brad Pitt was tapped to play Benjamin. I have always felt that Brad Pitt was a quintessential Fitzgerald man, just like Robert Redford. And he is getting a bit too old to play Jay Gatsby, pity.
I do wish the movie stayed a bit more true to the plot. To me it was more of a personal story than a love story, but I guess love stories sell more movies. I think this is a case of Fitzgerald's writing not being suited to the screen. In the end the short story focuses on the internal struggles of having to live a life aging backwards. And Fitzgerald just has a knack for getting the words right. I understand wanting to put his words to screen, but that is due to the visual nature of his prose. It is just not an easy task. He is the master.
So please, go pick up the short story. And read for yourself the story of Benjamin Button as Fitzgerald intended.
Loosely based indeed but I do hope it inspired at least a small group of young-ins to pick up the book.
ReplyDeleteI just read the short story for the first time a couple of nights ago, and it made me curious to see the film. But I dunno if I could sit through a film that long because I tend to become restless in lengthy films that lack sword fights.
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