The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This marks the first review which will be printed in the UW-L Racquet!

Coming soon to Coate Field is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, last year's Oscar nominee for Best Picture. This fictional biopic which chapters the life of a man living in reverse is the most impressive work to date of director David Fincher. Benjamin Button is born as a grotesque miniature man of 80 or 90 years of wrinkled age. Startled by his son's appearance, Benjamin (played by Brad Pitt in an Oscar nominated role) is abandoned on the door step of an assisted living residence. He is adopted by one of the home's caretakers and Benjamin starts his life as no other man has known. His "childhood" starts with arthritis and a wheelchair, presumedly aging forward towards death. As time goes on, it becomes evident that Benjamin is not growing older by the day, but younger.

As the film progresses you are taken through Ben's struggles and life lessons as he learns to read, walk, and all those other motor skills as the world see's him as something far different than a child. During his preadolescence (which appears to be late 70s) Benjamin encounters his first crush, a young girl who grows into a renown ballerina, played by Cate Blanchett. They become good friends from the start but as they begin growing closer to each other in age, their hearts grow much closer as well. Age, youth, injury, and death test the characters' will to be together as their age distances. Benjamin's life is marked by experiences, encounters, and journeys. He spends life as a retiree, a sailer, a child, and in the beginning and in the end he is alone.

This movie pushes 3 hours in length but its plot keeps you captivated along the way. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett both turn in great performances. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a revelation to what really matters in one's life. Everyone lives for an unknown time, but the years do not compare to the ways in which they are spent. Because, as the tagline proclaims, "Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments."

To see how this plays out, be sure tocheck out Midnight Movies at Coate Field during Welcome Week!

Rating: 3.5/4 Stars