Comments on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(The film was discussed May,  2014 at the SVMLC *monthly meeting)

6/7/14

I agree with the Academy Awards on their decision that this film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" ranks supreme in those area of art direction, makeup and visual effects.  I still think the movie is weak on screenplay (simply say that it is overly ambitious to make it a convincing story) and on acting overall (I have dwelled upon this in the group discussion at the meeting).

Of course I don't deny the use of magical realism is a clever way in this fantastical film, nonetheless I believe even when the story is stretched far out of the realm of reality it still needs to follow the rules of logic.  It is a modest demand by audience of all levels. Unfortunately there are many such unsound instances.

Maybe I am an oddball ill fit in this group（our discussion group),  I think that this group focuses more on literature than movie.  Many of them are well versed on literary merits such as the writings or words used in the dialogs (indeed they shine like gems from moment to moment.)  Whether they fit in the overall scheme of the story is yet unknown, sometimes uncalled for.  Of course this is only my opinion.

I have a feeling that it (the screenplay as well as direction of the film) strives to reach an epic level such as the kind we witnessed before us :  "Gone with the wind", "Lawrence of Arabia" or even "Forrest Gump" to name only a few.  It sends out too many threads but at times leading nowhere or not connecting with one another.  I also did not see many memorable moments or sequences which stand out in this movie.

Again this is just my two cents.  Maybe I was too focused on the merit of technical aspects (General direction, screenplay, editing, and overall structure and tone or mood of the film) and failed to see the smaller yet numerous sequences which gave many people satisfaction.

* SVMLC stands for Silicon Valley Movie and Literature Club.

Grace
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Dear members

The film won  the following awards in the 81st Academy:
- Best Art Direction
- Best Makeup
- Best Visual Effects

These webpages explain why: