Films: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

"I was born under unusual circumstances."

My View
Grab your handkerchiefs people because this surprisingly moving story touches your heart in the most unusual way. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a wonderful adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story of the same name with the script written by Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Munich), and tells the story of Benjamin, who was born a man aging backwards. This movie is directed by David Fincher (Fight Club).

The story starts much like Forrest Gump did with one of the main characters telling a story, in this case, a daughter reading from a diary. I found the movie a bit surprising and thankfully, not full of heavy drama, if you know what I mean. It simply tells the story of how Benjamin tried to cope up with his “curious case” with rather interesting results. Benjamin also meets an assortment of characters who teach him about life, love, and death. Curiously, this film is not about death, but about life and how one has to live it to the fullest.

The story however, emphasizes on Benjamin’s relationship with Daisy, a grand daughter of one of the elders living in the home run by his “mother”, Queenie. This begins a very curious friendship between the two. It is in this relationship that Benjamin struggles with his “disease” and his love for Daisy, and their family.

I see this movie as an absorbing and touching film with great dialogue. On the theatrical side of things, the make-up was superb, with Pitt looking like a realistic ninety-something year old man. I love the way they did the progression of their ages – as Benjamin grew younger and as Daisy grew older. Both Pitt and Blanchet delivered in this film. I wasn’t disappointed.

I give this movie five stars.