Curiously engaging

Rating: 8/10 (1 March 2009)

I will confess that when I first watched the trailer I didn't get it. I didn't really understand what the movie was about. It wasn't until the third or forth time that I viewed the trailer something clicked and made this one movie I had to see.
This was very much a movie about story over performance. I am not a huge Brad Pitt fan, I don't find him particularly talented or, on a more shallow basis attractive, but once you got used to his wavering accent you could become totally absorbed in Benjamin's story.
The transformation of Benjamin ranging from his elderly form right down to his younger appearance was amazing to watch. The special effects were seamless. It was hard to point out the stage in the movie where the real Brad Pitt appeared.
The supporting cast were fine, the most light-hearted moments came from Taraji P Henson as Benjamin's adopted mother Queenie and Jared Harris as Caption Mike although there is the argument that both roles were playing caricatures and as ever , Cate Blanchett played her part with the usual talent and grace that we have come to expect.
Benjamin Button is the nicest and most polite character to have appeared on the big screen since Forest Gump and at times he did come across like Forest with his naive simplicity. Cate Blanchett had the harder job of getting the audiences sympathy as there were times when Daisy was just down right horrid to poor (simple) Benjamin but come the end of her story she had won me around.
There were moments were I felt tears welling up and these were mostly the hospital scenes, that at times, interrupted the story telling, as the virtually unrecognisable Cate Blanchett was almost to accurate in her portrayal of a cancer patient.
I would give the movie an 8/10. It was a movie that you could totally lose yourself in - you do not feel the long running time.
I felt it had to lose a point for the Hurricane Katrina references at the end. It was a nice idea that Benjamin would return for Daisy but if we buy that ending then we really must blame Benjamin for creating one of the worst hurricanes in recent times. The ending could have worked but tying it into a recent real life event just didn't. It was clumsily done.
I loses as other point as I am Irish and Captain Mike annoyed me as I don't actually know of any Irish Men who speak in that accent.
Overall it is a love story about two people meeting at different stages of their lives and trying to hold on to the time they have together . -aww