by A. Marshall

Created on: May 13, 2009

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is loosely based on a story written in 1921 by F Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby. In a hospital room in New Orleans an elderly woman Daisy (Cate Blanchett) is on her deathbed, with her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) at her side. As hurricane Katrina approaches, Daisy gives her daughter a diary which narrates the story of how she came to know Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt). With excerpts from the diary and added bits filled in by Daisy, the whole story of Benjamin's life is pieced together from the moment of his birth at the end of the World War 1 in 1918.

Benjamin is born as a tiny wizened old man. His mother dies in childbirth and his horrified father abandons him on the steps of an old people's home where he is taken in by the young African/American carer Queenie (Taraji P. Henson). He is taken in and brought up among the elderly residents, where he is treated as one of them.

However, as their lives are winding down, Benjamin's is just beginning. Although he has the body of an old man, he has the mind of a child, so there is a curious naivety about him which is recognized by Daisy, when she first meets him as a child. The story tells of their relationship as she gradually grows older and he gradually grows younger, until eventually they meet somewhere in the middle.

There are stories within stories in this film. There's the old resident of the home who remembers being struck by lightning several times and we see this in amusing flashback. There's the tugboat Captain who gives Benjamin a job and tells of how he wanted to be an artist. There's the story of a clockmaker who made a clock to go backwards at the time of Benjamin's birth. These stories are all interwoven with Benjamin's story in a way that's sometimes funny, sometimes sad or tragic, but they are all fascinating.

Brad Pitt as Benjamin is fantastic, subtly altering his performance to match his appearance as the years go by. The special effects are amazing and totally convincing, and really part of watching this film is not only about watching his appearance change, but marveling at it. Cate Blanchett is luminously beautiful, and also puts in an excellent performance as a woman changing in terms of both maturity and life energy as she grows older. Taraji P. Henson puts in a good performance as Benjamin's adoptive mother, changing from a flirtatious young woman to an increasingly motherly character as time goes on. Tilda Swinton puts

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