The Real Curious Case of Benjamin Button: 13 Oscar Nominations

THE REAL CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON: 13 Oscar Nominations

Sure, it was well-crafted, the performances great, the cinematography gorgeous, and the special effects out-of-this-world, but what does it matter if the characters are no deeper than a kiddie pool, and the story is a poorly recycled version of the classic, Forrest Gump?

I’ll spare you the specific Gump parallels (the bloggers have jumped on that dilemma with reckless abandon), but let me mention briefly the thought that popped into my head when Benjamin decided to join the drunken fish boat captain on his exploits in Russia: “This captain guy is a lot like Lieutenant Dan...Benjamin’s a lot like Forrest…his love interest sure reminds me of Jenny…Wait a minute!” I felt like I’d been tricked. “I’m watching Forrest Gump all over again, except this version lacks the charm!”

The best example I can give of lacking charm lies in the theme of the film itself, which is repeated by nearly every character at the end of some life-changing scene: “Nothing lasts,” they say with a heavy heart. As inherently false as that statement should be, it rings true within this narrative, because every character lives their life in a way that ensures no lasting impact on anyone or anything. The line they ought to be repeating throughout the movie is:

“Nothing lasts, that is if you live your life like Benjamin Button. But if you live a life even remotely comparable to someone like Forrest Gump, the friendships you develop, the service you render, the lives you improve, and the memories you instill in everyone around you, adding up to an inspiring legacy, will actually last quite a long time, probably even forever.”

Instead, the depressing refrain of “nothing lasts!” gets repeated over and over, not only in action, but also in deed.

Consider the fact that Benjamin, at the ripe old age of 11, begins frequenting a brothel, where finding an enduring relationship isn’t exactly the goal for a good majority of the patrons and/or suppliers.

I’m sure it was the life-lessons he learned at this reputable place of business that inspired him to have a recurring affair with an unhappy woman while they lived an old Russian hotel together (why either of them were there in the first place remains a mystery). While the affair was inevitably cut off when the woman and her oblivious husband moved back to the States, at least it lasted a little while, which was longer than his previous relationships…

Maybe what he learned from that somewhat longer lasting experience is what prompted him to start a family with Daisy (played by Cate Blanchett), the love of his life, which lifelong love was based on sleeping under a make-shift tent in early childhood, followed by a 20-year separation, followed by sleeping in, under, with, and around various other locations upon being reunited.

This was actually the longest lasting of Benjamin’s relationships, which could have lasted even longer, had Benjamin listened to the pleadings of his fair Daisy. But alas, with a man like Benjamin, NOTHING LASTS. And so, soon after the birth of their beautiful baby girl, and out of the sense of “duty” and “honor” unique to Mr. Button and his code of ethics (perhaps acquired in a brothel somewhere or maybe a dark hotel in Russia), he decides to high-tail it outa there, leaving his wife and child to fend for themselves in the world while he roams the streets of Calcutta and other third-world cities in search of more fleeting experiences.

Indeed, nothing lasts, including the impression this film leaves on its viewers. It will be forgotten as quickly as ‘ol Benjamin can pack a knapsack in the middle of the night. And the awards it inexplicably garners at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony will soon be erased from our collective memory along with other ridiculous winners of the past: Crash? Chicago???

If anything remains from this movie, it is the memory of Benjamin’s poor life-choices, which may be even more curious than the fact that he ages backwards!



Douglas W. Bailey
dwadebailey@gmail.com