The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Very loosely adapted from a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the multiple-Oscar-nominated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a tour de force for star Brad Pitt and director David Fincher. The story begins in New Orleans, circa 1918, with the birth of an infant who exhibits the physical characteristics of an octogenarian—a birth that leaves the mother dead and the father so distraught that he quickly deposits the newborn on the doorstep of a nearby home for the elderly, where a goodhearted caregiver named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson) christens him Benjamin and raises the child as her own. Initially infirm and pathetically fragile in his early childhood, Benjamin grows stronger—and younger—with each passing year, eventually leaving home to work as a seaman and travel the world, before returning stateside to enjoy an on-again-off-again romance with Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the beautiful dancer he knew when both were (on the inside, at least) impressionable children. As Benjamin continues to age backward, his bizarre gift becomes a curse as those whom he has known and loved grow old and die. Told mostly in flashback, the film uses a framing device in which the aged Daisy lies on her deathbed in a New Orleans hospital, reminiscing about her life with her fully grown daughter (Julia Ormond) as Hurricane Katrina races towards the Louisiana coast. The near-three-hour The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is not a genuine cinematic masterpiece—Eric Roth's screenplay features too many banal aphorisms of the Forrest Gump type (“You never know what's coming for you”) and Benjamin himself seems oddly distant at times—but in a year boasting few exemplary titles, this one was one of the best and easily the most ambitious. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director David Fincher, the near-three-hour four-part “The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button,” which compiles the majority of the special features, including interviews with stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, a step-by-step examination of the motion-capture process used to age Pitt's character, and other aspects of the production. Also included are featurettes on “Tech Scouts” locations (12 min.) and “Costume Design” (8 min.), as well as storyboard, art direction, costume, and production stills galleries. Bottom line: a fine extras package for one of 2008's best.] (E. Hulse)