We Can't Wait #7 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Directed by David Fincher (Zodiac)
Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P Henson, Elle Fanning, Jason Flemyng, Julia Ormond and Tilda Swinton
Based on the book by F Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby) about a man (the title character) who ages backwards
Brought to you by Paramount and Warner Bros
Expected Release Date November 26th, 2008

Nathaniel: ? notice you will, backwards this type I if

Joe: First of all, I have to express my admiration for David Fincher, who brazenly cast Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett together, despite the fact that their movies end up either hopelessly delayed (The Fountain) or backlash-laden Oscar nominees (Babel). The latter might sound like a decent compromise for some, but I don't know if I could take David Fincher getting such harsh treatment. Anyway, I'll follow Fincher to the ends of the Earth, and Tilda Swinton and Taraji P. Henson in thesupporting cast don't hurt, and if this film somehow progresses from a crows-footed Brad Pitt getting shot in the back to him without a shirt, showing Geena Davis how to properly conduct a robbery, it could be the feel-good ending of the year. Fingers crossed!

Glenn: This movie was not on my list despite my admiration of David Fincher and the bizarre plot. I'm glad that David Fincher has somehow managed to get two movies released in the span of a year and a half (if all goes to plan) and that Benjamin Button is not at all what I would have expected from the man is most of the appeal this project does have for me. As is always the case though there is a "but..." and it is Brad Pitt. I'm sorry, but I do not see the appeal of this man. I just don't think he's a very good actor. As the years have gone by whenever he has been given the right material he can be serviceable, but more often than not I find myself just not interested. Long gone are the days of Fincher/Pitt's breakthrough Se7en. I hope I'm wrong on this count, but I can't help but wish Fincher had been a bit more left-of-centre like he was with the entire casting of Zodiac.


Gabriel: Watch yourself, Glenn. As a man who, in college, once had a life-size pinup poster of Brad Pitt on his dorm room wall, I am a bit protective of him. He will be mine. Oh yes. He will be mine.

As to Button ..my thought on this one is that Fincher is overdue -- way overdue, in fact -- for some Oscar attention and some statuettes. Zodiac was one of the more egregiously overlooked films from last year, and he's a consistently superb craftsman. (We'll just let Alien³ drift out of our memories.) Pitt and Blanchett will bring the notoriety and the big audiences that Oscar increasingly needs for its nominees. I hope this is a slam dunk.

MaryAnn: I'm always there for Fincher. Plus the science-fantasy aspect of the backward aging thing is right up my alley. The wizard Merlin did that too!

Nathaniel: Gabriel, don't be dissing on Alien³. Sure it's no Aliens but it's foul rap is undeserved I think.

While we're travelling backwards through time, I'm hoping Fincher can also pull off the neat trick of making me feel like I don't have Cate Blanchett's every line and curve and facial expression committed to memory because if she is going to be in every Oscar Bait movie for yet another five years, I'm going to need to feel that Elizabeth '98 revelation again.

And while we're aging this movie backwards, can we do that with Tilda Swinton too?! Imagine ending her supporting role with a nod to Derek Jarman! Lovely.

Glenn: The only flaw with that plan, Nat, is that Tilda Swinton does not age. And that's a fact! Is a movie about a man regressing through age the sort of thing to finally get Fincher some Academy Action?

Joe: Hey, if a serial killer movie can finally get the Coens some love...(fingers crossed)

Glenn: Touché, Joe. Touché. Although, to be honest, the Coens already had one Best Picture nominee (Fargo) to their name and a collection of their other movies had tech/acting noms. Unlike Fincher whose films have but two nominations to their name - a visual effects nod for Alien³ and an editing nomination for Se7en. But fingers crossed for Fincher - he deserves it.

Nathaniel: My word there was a lot of finger crossing in that discussion! Sounds like a whole bundle of raw nerves are mixed into the group excitement for Button. I trust Fincher but I am a little weirded out that so many different actors are playing Benjamin Button. I understand that Pitt can't play every age but one actor is listed as "Benjamin Button -age 36" and considering Pitt himself (who is 44) just played a 34 year-old in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford I wonder how much screen time he's actually going to have here.

Readers ...are you on pins and needles about whether David Fincher can pull this off? Yay or nay in the comments...


<-- Sister Aloysius prays for your wicked soul if you haven't been reading the "we can't wait" countdown #1 Synecdoche, New York / #2 Burn After Reading / #3 Australia / #4 Milk / #5 Blindness / # 6 Doubt / #7 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button / #8 Revolutionary Road / #9 The Dark Knight / #10 Sex & The City: The Movie / #11 The Lovely Bones / #12 Wall-E / #13 Stop-Loss / #14 The Women / #15 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince / Introduction / Orphans
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