The film was an unqualified success. Few movies lasting nearly three hours with quasi-downbeat material please both audiences and critics, yet it remains low on the lists of Pitt’s, Blanchett’s, Fincher’s, and Roth’s most notable efforts.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 12, 2024

The effect, which isn’t fully grasped until absorbed in its entirety, plays like a moody fairy tale, romantic and magical, with flourishes both elegiac and unusual.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 5, 2024

As [Benjamin] taught us, “I hope you live a life you’re proud of, [and] if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 3, 2024

Grief is inevitable; as we grow older, we'll inevitably attend more funerals than birthday parties, and the reward of a long life is watching everything but your own self be swept away by time and tide. But perhaps love is inevitable as well.

| Nov 4, 2021

It's a beautiful story, and it is unlike anything Fincher has ever made.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jan 3, 2021

At its core, the film is rotted through with a philosophical viewpoint that proves a mile (or 166 minutes) wide but only an inch deep.

| Dec 31, 2020

It may be flawed, especially from a bloated script, but it still manages to be one of the more impressive films of the year.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Nov 28, 2020

Strip away all the classy art direction and CGI trickery, and the story is a bit of a snooze

| Nov 19, 2020

I won't necessarily quibble with an Oscar nomination for Pitt, though I'd find myself extremely disappointed with a win.

| Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 5, 2020

This strange premise (and a hefty running time) demands a huge leap of faith from viewers. For those up to making the jump, a moving and rather mind-bending experience awaits.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 26, 2020

A sumptuous and stirring romantic drama.

| May 12, 2020

Expert voice work from Cate Blanchett, impeccable New Orleans accent, and a tired broken lilt later on indicating how old Daisy is.

| Original Score: B | May 1, 2020

I loved The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It is a very long film, but how could it not be in order to tell the story of a whole life? It is also a film that hinges on the viewers' acceptance of a man aging in reverse. It is a magical movie...

| Apr 10, 2020

Benjamin Button is a finely crafted movie, with a more philosophical bent than any other big-budget fantasy of 2008. Still, it tries a little too hard to be profound without ever completely involving the emotions of the viewer.

| Mar 4, 2020

Like its title this is a curious film, indeed.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 10, 2020

Fincher is a master of establishing atmosphere, and the film has a dark, fable-like quality that is nearly intoxicating.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 6, 2019

Plodding, facile and fails to connect.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 31, 2019

Benjamin Button is certainly interesting visually - but as Forrest's mom will tell you, it's what's inside the box that counts.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 12, 2018

I'd like to report that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button represents the end of an era, one of those turning-points when American movies just have to change because they can't get any worse.

| Oct 31, 2018

Throughout, the film seems to lack the necessary ingredient to engage the audience with more than its superficial beauty.

| Oct 10, 2018