I knew Fincher was the wrong guy to direct this.

The biggest problem is that he's a dark, cynical, misanthropic filmmaker, and this is a tale requiring a fantastical, wondrous imagination. Fincher's pessimistic sensibilities end up clashing with the optimism the story presents, and he's never quite certain how to reconcile it. As a result, he ends up shooting the whole thing without any style or tone, and it becomes rather bland and plain for what it is. It never captures the premise in an interesting or exciting fashion, and the (rather boring) story is pushed to the forefront. If the script was stronger, maybe that wouldn't have been a problem, but it's not, and the whole film suffers because of it.

I mean, the visuals are pretty, but Fincher never allows us to recognize this. Instead of letting the shots linger and the beautiful vistas soak into our mind, he constantly cuts, chopping the whole thing up to make it as uninteresting as possible. The tugboat attack sequence is a perfect example of this. If Fincher had just let the shots rest, or even used one of his trademark tracking shots, the whole scene would've opened up and allowed the true beauty of the sequence to come to light. But he doesn't. The whole film is chopped into pieces - narratively, formally, and thematically.

There's still a lot to like here, but they're in moments separated by eons of awkward pauses and lingering looks. The opening tale, with its silent film influence and grainy look, is a truly innovative way to start the story off, but there's very little of that throughout the film. Only stuff like the constant lightning bolts and the 'what if' segment even measure up. The bulk of the film is lacking in any sort of creativity.

It's also far too long, with nothing necessitating such a length, far too similar to Forrest Gump (though not nearly as insulting and idiotic as that film), and far too focused on its utterly trite and moronic frame story, complete with Hurricane Katrina bearing down. It's basically a few brilliant moments trapped in a uninteresting movie - much like Benjamin Button trapped in his frail old body.

Probably one of the biggest disappointments in my moviegoing life.

Don't get the Gump comparisons, they both are a journey through a time period but thats where the link ends.

Katrina pretty much fails the movie on its own. Terrible, terrible idea. Dumbest thing in any movie this year.

what was so bad about Katrina? They all obviously lived in Louisiana and it was bound to affect them, as well as giving the story a specific time point. It continued the metaphor of impending doom. Everyone who knew about Benjamin's condition knew his fate. Benjamin knew he couldn't raise a child or have a lasting relationship with a woman,

I just do not like 00s Fincher. LOVE 90s Fincher. Don't like 00s Fincher.