The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) * * *

 

Directed by:  David Fincher

Starring:  Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Jason Flemyng, Julia Ormond, Elias Koteas, Tilda Swinton, Mahershala Ali

This a movie that can't have anything but a sad ending and an even sadder buildup.  There is no real payoff, but The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is nonetheless intriguing and touching.  The film, based on a 1922 F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, tells an unusual tale of a man who is ages in reverse.  Benjamin Button (Pitt) is born an elderly man and progresses toward infancy as he ages.  One wonders how much pain his mother went through when he was born.  If there was ever a time for a Caesarian, that was it.  

There are many scenes in which we see Brad Pitt as Brad Pitt, either with help of CGI and makeup or through his natural looks.  Pitt received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for this tricky role and he is able to find humanity beneath the gimmick.  The movie itself is an exercise in finding warmth and substance behind a plot which can only provide one sad outcome.  No attempt is made to explain why Benjamin Button was born the way he was, it just happened.   

Benjamin is born in 1910's New Orleans and whose presence is seemingly accepted by all.  No government agents trying to kidnap and study him.  He is such an oddity that people can't help but love him.  Fitzgerald wrote the story in 1922, possibly before the idea of government paranoia began to take shape.  However, I'm stunned he wasn't at least the subject of a newspaper story or two.  Word has a way of getting around.  

Cate Blanchett is Daisy, Benjamin's forever love interest who, like Jenny in Forrest Gump, doesn't get together with Benjamin until later in the movie mostly due to poor timing and intercontinental adventures.  Eric Roth, who wrote the movie, also adapted Forrest Gump, with plenty of similarities in the stories.  Forrest Gump injected more humor into its story, while The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is more solemn with very little comic relief thrown in.  This isn't to say Benjamin Button isn't a worthy story to tell, but it isn't a remote dropper like Forrest Gump.