Benjamin Button (Critics)

Rated: 12A
Running time: 2hrs 46min
Genre: Drama
Theatrical release: 06.02.09

Rotten Tomatoes - 64%

''Consensus: Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an epic fantasy tale with rich storytelling backed by fantastic performances''.

''Remove "curious" from the title and replace it with "twee and pointless", and you're close to it. What a incredible shaggy-puppy of a movie, a cobweb-construction patched together with CGI, prosthetics, gibberish and warm tears.'' Peter Bradshaw (Guardian UK)

''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leaves you colder than it should, and it shouldn't leave you cold at all.'' Kenneth Turan (Los Angeles Times)

''The anti-Slumdog Millionaire: a film that's stately, tasteful and genteelly melancholic rather than fevered, rollicking and euphoric. It's a film about time that seems almost out of time.'' Sukhdev Sandhu (Daily Telegraph)

''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button sighs with longing and simmers with intrigue while investigating the philosophical conundrums and emotional paradoxes of its protagonist’s condition''. A.O.Scott (New York Times)

''Aptly for a film so concerned with time, Button is 13 minutes shy of three hours and just flies by. If this is Fincher selling out, can he sell out more often please?'' Ian Freer (Empire Magazine)

''Given the resources and talent here, quite a movie might have resulted. But it's so hard to care about this story.'' Roger Ebert (Chicago-Sun-Times)

''An epic tale that contemplates the wonders of life -- of birth and death and, most of all, love.'' Kirk Honeycutt (Hollywood reporter)

''An epic, melancholic romance that employs a multi-generational cast and groundbreaking visual effects. It’s a testament to Fincher’s skill as a storyteller that the film actually works, albeit sporadically.'' Tom Huddlestone (Time Out)

''A richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling. '' Todd McCarthy (Variety)

''An unusual conceit brilliantly executed. A moving work of golden fantasy poised just above the dark waters of our own mortality.'' Matthew De Abaitua (Channel 4 film)

''It is a tedious marathon of smoke and mirrors. In terms of the basic requirements of three-reel drama the film lacks substance, credibility, a decent script and characters you might actually care for.'' James Christopher (Times UK)