"The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons" is not so curious after all.

Rating: Null/10 (10 August 2011)

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons" is not so curious after all. Based on an F. Scot Fitzgerald short story bearing the same name and set in New Orleans, cutting edge computer character generation is the vehicle used to tell a story that is all too human. This fantasy endeavor stars Brad Pitt as Benjamin Buttons, whose lot in life is to age backwards from a newborn with all the infirmities that are attendant to old age, to terminal infancy. Cate Blanchett is Daisy, Benjamin's lifelong love interest and Taraji P. Henson is Queenie, Benjamin's surrogate mother who finds him on the stairs of her boarding house, takes him in and loves him unconditionally.
Contrary to what may be popular belief, the film's best acting is found in the performances of Taraji P. Henson and Cate Blanchett, although director David Fincher makes masterful use of digitized character creation and manipulation. The computer generated Benjamin in the earlier scenes does show some lack of fluidity of motion and is reminiscent of Yoda from the Star Wars Series. However, the movie is edited well enough such that this is not an insurmountable issue.
One of the major themes of the film is the unpredictability of life Queenie told Benjamin as a child, "You never know what's coming for you." This is played out over and over as Benjamin takes a job, fights in World War II and enjoys an active sex life all the while growing younger. Benjamin does show some understanding to the extent possible when after Daisy is hit by a car, (crushing her dancer's legs) he makes a statement about life being a series of occurrences that are related and result in us being where we are supposed to be. Another strong element is that of water which possibly reinforces Queenie's philosophy. Water is ever changing and has the ability to change what it comes into contact with.
Lastly, the film addresses the concept of time, how we live our lives (spend our time), and what it means to live a meaningful life. In a letter to his daughter Caroline, Benjamin says "Be who you want to be, there are no rules." Most importantly, "It's never too late to start, if you're not living a life you are proud ofstart over." Words of wisdom spoken by a very wise "young" man.