Critical response
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 71% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 258 reviews, with an average rating of 7.10/10. The consensus reads: "Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an epic fantasy tale with rich storytelling backed by fantastic performances."[29] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[30] Yahoo! Movies reported the film received a B+ average score from critical consensus, based on 12 reviews.[31] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F.[32]
Todd McCarthy of Variety magazine gave the film a positive review, calling it a "richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling."[33] Peter Howell of The Toronto Star says: "It's been said that the unexamined life is not worth living. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button suggests an addendum: a life lived backwards can be far more enriching" and describes the film as "a magical and moving account of a man living his life resoundingly in reverse" and "moviemaking at its best."[34] Rod Yates of Empire awarded it five out of a possible five stars.[35][36] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter felt the film was "superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date." Honeycutt praised Fincher's directing of the film and noted that the "cinematography wonderfully marries a palette of subdued earthen colors with the necessary CGI and other visual effects that place one in a magical past." Honeycutt states the bottom line about Benjamin Button is that it is "an intimate epic about love and loss that is pure cinema."[37]
A. O. Scott of The New York Times states: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, more than two and a half hours long, sighs with longing and simmers with intrigue while investigating the philosophical conundrums and emotional paradoxes of its protagonist's condition in a spirit that owes more to Jorge Luis Borges than to Fitzgerald." Scott praised Fincher and writes "Building on the advances of pioneers like Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and Robert Zemeckis, Mr. Fincher has added a dimension of delicacy and grace to digital filmmaking" and further states: "While it stands on the shoulders of breakthroughs like Minority Report, The Lord of the Rings and Forrest Gump, Benjamin Button may be the most dazzling such hybrid yet, precisely because it is the subtlest." He also stated: "At the same time, like any other love—like any movie—it is shadowed by disappointment and fated to end."[38]
On the other hand, Anne Hornaday of The Washington Post states: "There's no denying the sheer ambition and technical prowess of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. What's less clear is whether it entirely earns its own inflated sense of self-importance" and further says, "It plays too safe when it should be letting its freak flag fly."[39] Kimberley Jones of the Austin Chronicle panned the film and stated, "Fincher's selling us cheekboned movie stars frolicking in bedsheets and calling it a great love. I didn't buy it for a second."[40] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half stars out of four, saying that it is "a splendidly made film based on a profoundly mistaken premise. ... the movie's premise devalues any relationship, makes futile any friendship or romance, and spits, not into the face of destiny, but backward into the maw of time."[41]
Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian called it "166 minutes of twee tedium", giving it one star out of five.[42] Cosmo Landesman of the Sunday Times gave the film two out of five stars, writing: "The film's premise serves no purpose. It's a gimmick that goes on for nearly three hours ... The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an anodyne Hollywood film that offers a safe and sanitised view of life and death."[43] James Christopher in The Times called it "a tedious marathon of smoke and mirrors. In terms of the basic requirements of three-reel drama the film lacks substance, credibility, a decent script and characters you might actually care for."[44] Derek Malcolm of London's Evening Standard felt that "never at any point do you feel that there's anything more to it than a very strange story traversed by a film-maker who knows what he is doing but not always why he is doing it."[45]
Accolades
At the 81st Academy Awards, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button received a leading 13 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Fincher, Best Actor for Pitt, and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson, and won three, for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Visual Effects.
Taraji P. Henson won Best Actress at the BET Awards for her role in the film combined with two other performances in Not Easily Broken, and The Family That Preys.
The film won all four awards it was nominated for at the 7th Visual Effects Society Awards, the categories of "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture," "Best Single Visual Effect of the Year," "Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture," and "Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture."
Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Picture | Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin | Nominated | [46] |
Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actress | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | ||
Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth and Robin Swicord | Nominated | ||
Best Art Direction | Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo | Won | ||
Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | ||
Best Costume Design | Jacqueline West | Nominated | ||
Best Film Editing | Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall | Nominated | ||
Best Makeup | Greg Cannom | Won | ||
Best Original Score | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
Best Sound Mixing | David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten | Nominated | ||
Best Visual Effects | Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron | Won | ||
American Society of Cinematographers | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | [47] |
Austin Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actress | Taraji P. Henson | Won | [48] |
British Academy Film Awards | Best Film | Kathleen Kennedy Frank Marshall Ceán Chaffin | Nominated | [49] |
Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
Best Makeup & Hair | Jean Black Colleen Callaghan | Won | ||
Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | ||
Best Editing | Kirk Baxter Angus Wall | Nominated | ||
Best Production Design | Donald Graham Burt Victor J. Zolfo | Won | ||
Best Costume Design | Jacqueline West | Nominated | ||
Best Music | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
Best Visual Effects | Eric Barba Craig Barron Nathan McGuinness Edson Williams | Won | ||
Broadcast Film Critics Association | Best Film | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | [50] |
Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
Best Actress | Cate Blanchett | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actress | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | ||
Best Cast | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
Best Composer | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
Chicago Film Critics Association | Best Picture | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | |
Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay, Adapted | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | ||
Best Original Score | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | David Fincher | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture Drama | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | [51] |
Best Director - Motion Picture | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
Best Original Score | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
Houston Film Critics Society Awards | Best Picture | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
Best Actress | Cate Blanchett | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actress | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | ||
Best Screenplay | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Won | ||
Best Score | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Best Art Direction | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Won | ||
Best Costume Design | Jacqueline West | Won | ||
London Film Critics' Circle | Best Film | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | |
Director of the Year | David Fincher | Won | ||
British Supporting Actress of the Year | Tilda Swinton | Won | ||
Screenwriter of the Year | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
MTV Movie Awards | Best Female Performance | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | [52][53] |
National Board of Review | National Board of Review: Top Ten Films | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | [50][54] |
Best Director | David Fincher | Won | ||
Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth | Won | ||
Satellite Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric Roth Robin Swicord | Nominated | |
Best Art Direction and Production Design | Donald Graham BurtTom Reta | Nominated | ||
Best Cinematography | Claudio Miranda | Nominated | ||
Best Costume Design | Jacqueline West | Nominated | ||
Saturn Award | Best Fantasy Film | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
Best Director | David Fincher | Nominated | ||
Best Writing | Eric Roth | Nominated | ||
Best Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | ||
Best Actress | Cate Blatchett | Nominated | ||
Best Supporting Actress | Tilda Swinton | Won | ||
Best Music | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated | ||
Best Make-Up | Greg Cannom | Won | ||
Best Visual Effects | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | ||
Scream Awards | Best Fantasy Actor | Brad Pitt | Nominated | |
Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role | Brad Pitt | Nominated | |
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role | Taraji P. Henson | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Nominated | ||
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards | Best Film | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | [55] |
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Director | David Fincher | Won | [56] |
Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture | Eric Barba Edson Williams Nathan McGuinness Lisa Beroud | Won | [57] |
Best Single Visual Effect of the Year | Eric Barba Lisa Beroud Steve Preeg Jonathan Litt for "Benjamin's Secret" | Won | ||
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture | Steve Preeg Matthias Wittmann Tom St. Amand David McLean for "Benjamin Button" | Won | ||
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture | Janelle Croshaw Paul Lambert Sonja Burchard Sarahjane Javelo for "Benjamin Comes Together" | Won | ||
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | Best Art Direction | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | Won | |
Writers Guild of America Awards | Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay | Eric RothRobin Swicord | Nominated |