The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond, Taraji P. Henson) – The premise sets the stage for an adventure into life from the end to the beginning – in reverse.  A child who looks like Yoda is born to the Buttons of New Orleans.  Mom dies in childbirth, and dad can’t handle either the responsibility or the outcast the child will be, abandoning it on the doorstep of a black couple who runs an old-age home.  The boy, who is named Benjamin by the new black mother (played by Taraji P. Henson), is 80+ years old in every way but his size.  Assumed to be dying, Benjamin grows up in the old-age home where he is beloved despite his “illness.”  The movie then follows his life, as he gets younger while the rest of the world ages.  He goes to sea, experiences his first women, travels the world and meets very interesting people, all while showing an amazing sense of curiosity.  In fact, the “curious” in the title applies to much more than just the “case” of Benjamin Button.

The film is set primarily from 1913 to the 1960s and is shot in dark scenes from the best days of New Orleans to the streets of Minsk.  It is a period piece in the best of the term since it allows us to see the passage of both Benjamin’s time and the century.  Brad Pitt is phenomenal in the film as he ages backward, showing more spunk and using his natural adventuresome spirit to move the movie along.  While he remains dedicated to his mother throughout his life, his journey is told through his relationships with two women.  First, there is the wife of the British diplomat (played by Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton) who he meets in Russia while serving on a tugboat.  They stay up until all hours talking and eventually having a torrid affair that only ends when World War II begins.  The other is truly the love of his life, Daisy (Cate Blanchett).  He meets her first when she is a child (and he an old man) and later becomes reacquainted as the two approach age parity on their way to becoming friends, then lovers.  At this point, the movie becomes Forrest Gump-like (think Forrest and Jenny) as the couple that is destined for each other, meets, gets separated, is brought together by tragedy, and evolves to an inevitable denouement. This is a beautiful film, if very long, with impeccable acting, a compelling story, and a unique premise that is both mesmerizing and creepy.  Pitt’s performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination with the reverse aging handled seamlessly, including the joy of seeing him looking as old as about 65 and as young as he did in A River Runs Through It so many years ago.  Blanchett is radiant in her younger scenes as a prima ballerina and as stately, then matronly, as she ages.  And Swinton is perfect in her cameo that could also be a surprising Oscar contender.  Be prepared to settle in for a long evening but the payoff is there with a fine and original film based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald novella.

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