Is this Fincher's weakest film? Or is that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? Well, at least there are no serial killers in this one, he tries something different. But the film should be a tearjerker, and it never is. It reminds me a bit of the Jeunet films - visually amazing, but too sugary. If you want magic you also have to show reality. There has to be contrasts. The film summed up in one word would probably be... phony. Benjamin Button meets people who give him feel good life lessons. Brad Pitt is not convincing. He's Brad Pitt doing an accent. Even Jared Harris, one of the best actors around, is not convincing. I should blame the script, I guess. And for a perfectionist like Fincher I'm surprised by how bad some of the CGI is, especially the boat in daylight scenes. There's one amazing shot, the WW 1 battle scene run backwards, too bad about the rest.
Top 5 David Fincher films:
1. Zodiac
2. Seven
3. The Social Network
4. Panic Room
5. Fight Club
I agree with your ranking of Fincher films, 100%. Zodiac has incredible re-watch value. Benjamin Button I only saw once and have actively avoided since. Its like and artificial sweetener. Synthetic sweet.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, Dragon Tattoo didn't make that much money so he didn't waste more time doing the whole triology. I'd rather have seen him do 20 000 Leages Under The Sea, though, than Gone Girl.
ReplyDeleteJust re-watched Seven, still an incredible movie; grim, dense and with great use of light. I must admit that I fell asleep when I tried to watch Zodiac back when it came out on DVD. Please, can you give me a good reason to try again?
ReplyDeleteYes, Seven is an amazing film, a real masterpiece, but I feel that Zodiac is a much richer film. It reminds me of All The Presidents Men, and has some of the same 70s feel to it. Of course, they don't catch the killer in the end, but the film still is, to me, a completely satisfying film experience, about the cost of obsession. Give it a second try.
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