Oh my God. I haven’t seen it yet, but once it’s out on the 6th February I won’t be able to think of anything else than this while watching it. Why did I watch this, dammit? Haha
Robert Hamer
Ladies and gentlemen of the Academy, we present Exhibit A on why The Curious Case of Benjamin Button shouldn’t even recieve a screenplay nomination at the Oscars, let alone a Best Picture nod.
I remember sitting in the theater thinking this was a sequel to Forrest Gump, not knowing they had the same writer. Such laziness.
John Travolta
Eric Roth also wrote Munich and The Good Shepherd. In Forrest Gump Munich and The Good Shepherd, the main character (Forrest Gump, Avner, and Edward Wilson) are away for many years and return home and find they have a child and meet him for the first time.
1. Forrest Gump returns after vietnam/ping pong/running
2. Avner returns after slaying the people in charge of the munich olympics tragedy
3. Edward Wilson returns after doing his job in Russia
This was a common element in these movies and so i was surprised when I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Benjamin after reuniting with Daisy does not find that she somehow has a child. I’m glad to see that part of the Eric Roth formula was left out for this movie.
Barry
Wow. This writer seems really original.
Chris
I always knew that Forrest Gump and Benjamin Button had a lot of similarities, but after that I’ve realized that they are EXACTLY the same. Jesus Christ.
In defense of Munich, that was based on a novel and re-written by Tony Kushner. Not sure if Shepherd and Gump are adapted from previous material.
Harmonica
Funny video, really enjoyed it. However I’m surprised about how people are now dishing Roth based on these (shallow) similarities.
There’s more to a screenplay than just common events. And while these movies share some things in common, they’re so different from each other. “Forrest Gump” is a story of American history seen through the eyes of an unlikely character. “Benjamin Button” is a complex study of life and death. It’s way more complex than Gump. And it deserves the praise it has won so far.
Adam Smith
Kyle: Gump was a novel, and Shepherd was a true story, as I recall, and I believe a book.
Critical Mass
How did this movie get all these guild nominations and now seems to be on the road to a best picture nomination? It’s only at 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and 69% on Metacritic.
McGuff
I thought the screenplay was … really not very good. I noticed a lot of these similarities, but what bothered me the most is Roth’s insistence on filling his scripts with vague, life-encompassing statements that don’t sound like real dialogue at all (“you never know what’s coming for ya”).
For my money, Justin Haythe’s screenplay for a similarly tough source was FAR AND AWAY better.
I guess the better criticism would be that Roth is attracted to source material that is simliar
Robert Hamer
I believe, Critical Mass, that the answer to that question can be found in two things: hype and the kool-aid drinkers who bought into it.
I was hoping that this film would go the way of Cold Mountain in 2003, getting all of this Oscar hype that evaporated as soon as it was released. Alas, the desire from fans to secure a nomination for the longtime snubee David Fincher seems to have rendered that hope false.
Since I love you all Button haters, here I present you more “similarities”
– Benjamin dies in the movie just like Forrest
– Benjamin abandoned his daughter just like Forrest
– Capt Mike dies, just like Lt. Dan
– Daisy dies at a young age just like Jenny
– Benjamin had sex (and enjoy it) with prostitutes just like Forrest
– Benjamin excelled at sports or whatever he did, just like Forrest
– Daisy wanted to have sex with Benjamin at 20, just like Jenny did, and as Forrest, Benjamin said No
– Queenie was married to a fine man just like Forrest’s mom
– The passion displayed in the marriage between Benjamin and Daisy is just as hot as Forrest and Jenny. And of course their roles as husband and wife, strikingly similar
– Benjamin had a love relationship with a non-Daisy character, again just like Forrest did, I always wondered how Forrest could forget Jenny just to be with that other woman.
– Benjamin drinks and hangs out with his father just like Forrest, how can you forget those memorable scenes between Forrest and his father
I loved both movies, but I don’t know how can you say the ESSENCE of both movies is the same.
Craig
dude pointing out specific differences is a really stupid arguement for your cause. It’s incredibly easy to pick through two nearly three hour long movies to find a twelve differences. There about two different characters so they arn’t obviously the exact same. But you really are enforcing the simularities of the movies as a hole.
Dude, you should look at the definition of ‘specific”, it’s not like I pointed out, Benjamin was born in a state whose first letter is an L and Forrest in one whose first letter is an A.
The relation with Tilda’s character, with his father and with Daisy are CENTRAL for Benjamin. I think the stupid ones are the ones pointing the specific similarities. Hell, it does not require a masters degree to find similar places, dialogues, characters between ANY two movies. Yeah, the clip is funny, but to say Benjamin is Forrest II is equally stupid nonetheless.
Comments
22 responses to “Separated at birth”
Haha! Brilliant!
That’s fantastic.
Interesting, Mr. Roth…
Oh my God. I haven’t seen it yet, but once it’s out on the 6th February I won’t be able to think of anything else than this while watching it. Why did I watch this, dammit? Haha
Ladies and gentlemen of the Academy, we present Exhibit A on why The Curious Case of Benjamin Button shouldn’t even recieve a screenplay nomination at the Oscars, let alone a Best Picture nod.
Why not? They liked it well enough the first time round!
Seriously, I think the “Button” screenplay is actually a thing of beauty. I don’t think the film quite capitalises on it, though.
I should add that I HATE “Forrest Gump.”
Perfect. Hated “FG” and dislike “BB.” I hope “TDK” surprises and takes the big one.
That’s why YouTube must exist…
I loved FG, BUT roth has expressed *nothing* on the big screen of the ” Tales of the Jazz Age” by Fitzgerald!
I remember sitting in the theater thinking this was a sequel to Forrest Gump, not knowing they had the same writer. Such laziness.
Eric Roth also wrote Munich and The Good Shepherd. In Forrest Gump Munich and The Good Shepherd, the main character (Forrest Gump, Avner, and Edward Wilson) are away for many years and return home and find they have a child and meet him for the first time.
1. Forrest Gump returns after vietnam/ping pong/running
2. Avner returns after slaying the people in charge of the munich olympics tragedy
3. Edward Wilson returns after doing his job in Russia
This was a common element in these movies and so i was surprised when I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Benjamin after reuniting with Daisy does not find that she somehow has a child. I’m glad to see that part of the Eric Roth formula was left out for this movie.
Wow. This writer seems really original.
I always knew that Forrest Gump and Benjamin Button had a lot of similarities, but after that I’ve realized that they are EXACTLY the same. Jesus Christ.
In defense of Munich, that was based on a novel and re-written by Tony Kushner. Not sure if Shepherd and Gump are adapted from previous material.
Funny video, really enjoyed it. However I’m surprised about how people are now dishing Roth based on these (shallow) similarities.
There’s more to a screenplay than just common events. And while these movies share some things in common, they’re so different from each other. “Forrest Gump” is a story of American history seen through the eyes of an unlikely character. “Benjamin Button” is a complex study of life and death. It’s way more complex than Gump. And it deserves the praise it has won so far.
Kyle: Gump was a novel, and Shepherd was a true story, as I recall, and I believe a book.
How did this movie get all these guild nominations and now seems to be on the road to a best picture nomination? It’s only at 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and 69% on Metacritic.
I thought the screenplay was … really not very good. I noticed a lot of these similarities, but what bothered me the most is Roth’s insistence on filling his scripts with vague, life-encompassing statements that don’t sound like real dialogue at all (“you never know what’s coming for ya”).
For my money, Justin Haythe’s screenplay for a similarly tough source was FAR AND AWAY better.
Thanks Adam,
I guess the better criticism would be that Roth is attracted to source material that is simliar
I believe, Critical Mass, that the answer to that question can be found in two things: hype and the kool-aid drinkers who bought into it.
I was hoping that this film would go the way of Cold Mountain in 2003, getting all of this Oscar hype that evaporated as soon as it was released. Alas, the desire from fans to secure a nomination for the longtime snubee David Fincher seems to have rendered that hope false.
Since I love you all Button haters, here I present you more “similarities”
– Benjamin dies in the movie just like Forrest
– Benjamin abandoned his daughter just like Forrest
– Capt Mike dies, just like Lt. Dan
– Daisy dies at a young age just like Jenny
– Benjamin had sex (and enjoy it) with prostitutes just like Forrest
– Benjamin excelled at sports or whatever he did, just like Forrest
– Daisy wanted to have sex with Benjamin at 20, just like Jenny did, and as Forrest, Benjamin said No
– Queenie was married to a fine man just like Forrest’s mom
– The passion displayed in the marriage between Benjamin and Daisy is just as hot as Forrest and Jenny. And of course their roles as husband and wife, strikingly similar
– Benjamin had a love relationship with a non-Daisy character, again just like Forrest did, I always wondered how Forrest could forget Jenny just to be with that other woman.
– Benjamin drinks and hangs out with his father just like Forrest, how can you forget those memorable scenes between Forrest and his father
I loved both movies, but I don’t know how can you say the ESSENCE of both movies is the same.
dude pointing out specific differences is a really stupid arguement for your cause. It’s incredibly easy to pick through two nearly three hour long movies to find a twelve differences. There about two different characters so they arn’t obviously the exact same. But you really are enforcing the simularities of the movies as a hole.
Dude, you should look at the definition of ‘specific”, it’s not like I pointed out, Benjamin was born in a state whose first letter is an L and Forrest in one whose first letter is an A.
The relation with Tilda’s character, with his father and with Daisy are CENTRAL for Benjamin. I think the stupid ones are the ones pointing the specific similarities. Hell, it does not require a masters degree to find similar places, dialogues, characters between ANY two movies. Yeah, the clip is funny, but to say Benjamin is Forrest II is equally stupid nonetheless.