The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Rating: 8/10 (14 June 2009)

From Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated director David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Panic Room), I only heard of this film when the Oscars were coming up, and it did sound quite an original idea. Basically elderly Daisy Williams/Fuller is on her deathbed in hospital, and her daughter Caroline (First Knight's Julia Ormond) reads aloud the diary of a man named Benjamin. In a series of flashbacks, we see Benjamin born (with his mother dying in the process), and abandoned by biological father Thomas (Jason Flemyng). He was born in most bizarre circumstances, throughout his life growing up, he is ageing backwards. So as a baby he was born in his 80's, and as he grows, he looks older than he actually is. He was raised by seniors home carer Queenie (Oscar nominated Taraji P. Henson) who found him, and living their he also meets the girl who will later become his love, Daisy of course. Now a fully grown man, still looking older than his real age, Benjamin (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Brad Pitt) goes to work on a tugboat, has an affair with older, married Elizabeth Abbott (Tilda Swinton), goes through the Pearl Harbor attack, and eventually returns home to meet his revealed father. He is also reunited with a grown Daisy (Cate Blanchett), their love blossoms, they move in together, and of course as Daisy looks older, Benjamin looks younger. It is when Daisy has a baby that he feels it is not fair to have a man like him as a father, so he leaves. He only returns to see Daisy married to another man, and his daughter Caroline grown up, and eventually he returns to the senior home to be cared for by Queenie, and Daisy, as we see him shrinking to child size, suffering dementia, until dying looking like a baby, and of course, back in the present, old Daisy dies. Also starring Elias Koteas as Monsieur Gateau and Josh Stewart as Pleasant Curtis. This is a very intriguing and at times emotional idea for the lifespan of a character, a real change of style and tone for director Fincher, and with superb CGI and make-up effects giving us this journey it is a unique feeling film experience. It won the Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects, and it was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Music for Alexandre Desplat, Best Sound, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published and Best Motion Picture of the Year, it won the BAFTAs for Best Make Up & Hair, Best Production Design and Best Special Visual Effects, and it was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Music, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film, and it was nominated the Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay. Cate Blanchett was number 37, and Brad Pitt number 15 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, Pitt was also number 5 on The 100 Greatest Sex Symbols, he number 52 on The 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons, and he was number 30 The World's Greatest Actors. Very good!