The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

  I missed the boat on this one.  This was the movie everyone was talking about in 2008.  If I had been doing my blog back then, I might have seen it for Oscar season since it was nominated for 13 and won three.  But I wasn't and I didn't.  In fact, I might never have seen it at all if Christy didn't own it.  But there it was, sitting on the shelf between season one of CSI and The Curse of the Golden Flower. 

An old woman (Cate Blanchett) lays dying in a New Orleans hospital just before Hurricane Katrina hits.  Her daughter (Julia Ormand) reads to her from a diary written by a man claiming to have been born at eighty years old and growing younger with the years and his great love.  Benjamin (Brad Pitt) was abandoned at a nursing home as an infant and raised by one of the workers, a woman named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson).  He fit right in amongst the old people, and there was the first time he met Daisy (Elle Fanning).  As the years passed and he got younger, he moved out into the world to explore and see what could be seen.  Daisy, too, grew up and became a dancer in New York City.  Being on opposite ends of the time stream, the two struggle with their differing paths in life.  After all, timing is everything.

This film won an Academy Award for Best Make-up and it was well-deserved.  There are a lot of CGI effects but the principal work is practical pieces applied to the actors.  Brad Pitt does an excellent job portraying a bent old man moving all the way back to a man in his prime.  Taking him younger proves to be a little harder since they were trying to soften his jaw and round out his face for his early twenties, but they manage it through the power of suggestion.  Cate Blanchett has such a beautifully strong face and such good bone structure that her features don't have to be loaded up quite so heavily with silicone and latex to convey years.

It also won an Oscar for Art Direction, evidenced by the cohesiveness of each scene.  Benjamin's recollections are shot in warm amber, perfect for evoking the syrupy sweetness of childhood memories.  The present day shots are cold and blue, foreshadowing the storm about to wreak havoc on everyone's lives.  It is beautifully filmed and the supporting cast is excellent, featuring Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas, Jared Harris, and Tilda Swinton.  A solid addition to the Oscar ranks.