The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ***

The movie has it all: big stars, sprawling story, resplendent score, and beautifully shot by one of the hottest directors in Hollywood. But why did this hyped movie leaving me a bit underwhelmed? Here's 3 reasons:

A) Unlike their perfectly-synched couple in 'Babel', Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett have little chemistry. I suppose this could be attributed to the unusual unfolding of their relationship, but I doubt that would be what the filmmakers intended.
B) Until the magnificent Tilda Swinton kick-starts the movie when she appears after the first hour (its nearly 3 hours long), the movie felt like an aimless string of vignettes....dare I say it: Forrest Gump-ish (same screenwriter). OK, sorry, this good movie does not really deserve that awful comparison.
C) Benjamin seemed more like a plot device than a fleshed-out character. I do not think Pitt is quite enough of a resourceful actor to convey the complicated feelings and situations that he experiences as he ages in reverse from being old at birth to being a newborn at death. It always looked like he was trying to act his "real" age because he was supposed to act that way, not because he actually was that way.

Cate Blanchett was reliably very good as Daisy. Director David Fincher sure knows how to make her look absolutely gorgeous and ethereal. You can't your eyes off of her! The ending seemed quite emotional...more so because I was supposed to feel it, not as much because I actually did feel it. And I'm not quite sure what Hurricane Katrina was doing there. I was actually most affected when Benjamin and Daisy began to slip out of each others' lives, as the movie effectively reaches its denouement about fleeting love and one and only chances. It stayed with me afterwards. The fact that Blanchett's Daisy is the driving character at the end of the movie helps a lot. The score by Andre Desplat was sublime, and it continues his string of impressive work that includes the highly-praised score for 'The Painted Veil'.