The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Well, I've now seen all this year's BAFTA/Oscar Best Film contenders. The Reader and Frost/Nixon are both over-rated, Milk is conventional but thoroughly engaging, and Slumdog Millionaire a dark-tinged delight. I so wanted Benjamin Button to be great (I adore Seven, which is still David Fincher's best film) but although it has it's moments and possesses some moving moments, it's slightly disappointing. Benjamin's life may map onto the history of the 20th century but it's oddly bereft of social engagement. Setting the framing story during the onset of Hurricane Katrina is about as far as it goes - and then one suspects it's more because of the dramatic sound and vision of an impending storm than anything actually meaningful. It's one of the few occasions when the action isn't bathed in a golden glow. The film's New Orleans seems to exist in a parallel world where racism and bigotry don't exist and everyone gets along just swimmingly. Blacks and whites co-exist in perfect harmony. In fact, *everybody* is pleasant and well-meaning, draining the film of dramatic tension and certainly making it feel like a fantasy. The most impressive sections are when the act is kicked out of it's comfort zone and a bit more imagination is shown: the early "reversal of time" sequence, bringing the dead young soldiers back to life or the fateful series of incidents in Paris that lead to Daisy's accident. They give tantalizing hints of what might have been.