#110 | Being Benjamin Button - Beyond The Box Set

**Listen to our The Curious Case of Benjamin Button episode on:**

Let’s just get this out of the way. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a boring movie. There’s no particular reason why it had to be – the cast is strong, the concept is intriguing and David Fincher is generally a great director. But despite all that, the movie seems to completely squander its premise, establishing the title character’s fairly unique set of circumstances quickly, but failing to develop any kind of personality to go with it.

There’s a definite Forrest Gump feel to the way Benjamin Button naively wanders through various key moments in history, his mind set on winning the love of his childhood sweetheart (Cate Blanchett here, doing heavy accent work and her level best to flesh out a terribly under-written character). The comparison is unsurprising – the two films share a writer. However, while Forrest Gump makes for a loveable protagonist, Brad Pitt’s Button is a flat observer of his own life. The extensive CGI he spends much of the film behind can’t have helped the performance, but the feeling remains that Pitt was fundamentally miscast in the role.

In this week’s edition of the Beyond The Box Set podcast, we discuss creepy sexual dynamics, impenetrable accents and Tilda Swinton giving us second-hand tea anxiety, before pitching some drinking games and sequel ideas to liven up this dull dud of a movie. You’ll thank us when you get past the two hour mark with no end in sight…

You can find this week’s episode on all good podcasting platforms by clicking the relevant links at the top of this blog post, or by searching for Beyond The Box Set. We release a new episode every Friday morning, so please hit subscribe to stay in touch, and leave us a rating or a review if you really want to make our day. You can also access a variety of bonus incentives by checking out our Patreon page.

Next up on our recording schedule, we’re taking a closer look at one of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses – and performing an emergency crash course for one half of our hosting duo – with the start of our newest mini-season. Until then, happy listening and watch out for random lightning strikes.