Everyone always says they want to be young again, but it’s hard to tell what’s worse: getting older with everybody else or getting physically younger all on your own.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells the story of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) who was “born under unusual circumstances.” While everyone around him is aging normally, Benjamin is getting younger.
Early in Benjamin’s life, he meets Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the granddaughter of a woman living in his same nursing home. Despite their different ages, he and Daisy begin a lifelong friendship and keep in touch as they go their separate ways. Benjamin meets a rugged tugboat captain Mike (Jared Harris), whom he joins on his sea travels. Along the way, Benjamin is introduced to a number of memorable people. He travels around the United States with the ship’s crew and even engages in the fighting of WWII.
He returns home to New Orleans and reconnects with Daisy, who is now an accomplished ballerina. Now that they are closer in age, a romance flourishes between the two. However, they are both aware that Benjamin’s peculiar aging process will be a strain on their relationship.
The movie was based off of a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and was portrayed similarly to movies such as Forrest Gump, where the story is remembered by a character later in their life: in this case, an aged, dying Daisy. Like The Notebook, Daisy is read to from a journal of Benjamin’s life, and what is happening in the present is also an important aspect of the story.
Some of the cutest parts were the interactions between the young Daisy and the elderly Benjamin. Viewers immediately hoped that they would be together later. I was glad that the movie spanned from Benjamin’s birth to death and had a definite resolution between him and Daisy.
Pitt had three very different roles to play. Beginning the film as an elderly gentleman, Pitt successfully switched to his role as a middle aged man and then one in his early twenties with fluidity. He was the perfectly charming southern gentleman and won over the crowd at all ages, and brought to life the characteristics of a young child despite being an older man at the time.
Blanchett played the part of a talented ballerina who seemed to have everything going for her. She too had to portray her character through three generations, and did so with similar grace to Pitt. She was the perfect actress to portray Benjamin’s love interest. Although Daisy seemed distant from Benjamin at times, her successful independence and charisma captivated audiences.
The other characters also had a significant effect on the likeability of the movie. Whether it was the drunken tugboat captain or the man at the nursing home where Button was raised who claimed to have been struck by lightning seven times, the film was oriented around the people who shaped Benjamin’s life. Each one of these seemingly minor side-characters have deeper importance, as well as offered much enjoyed humor to the film.
The make-up artists deserve great praise for their stunning work by realistically making Pitt and Blanchett age throughout the film. Their ability to make Pitt look like the elderly Benjamin was by far the most striking, and further added to the charm of the film.
This movie is destined to be a classic. With its high degree of originality and personality, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is sure to keep you enthralled. It is a beautifully filmed movie, and has some of the most promising acting of the year.
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