Very curious indeed (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (DVD))

Member Name: tanyatigerlily

Product:	The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (DVD)
Date:	25/08/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interestng storyline

Disadvantages: Very slow-moving story

I watched 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' a few days ago and have been wondering how to write a review on this very different sort of story. Let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed the movie and was weeping by the end of it. On the other hand my husband was bored to tears and compared it to watching paint dry! Obviously it is more a woman's thing.

The story unfolds in New Orleans with the birth of Benjamin Button in 1918. His mother dies soon after his birth and his father cannot stand the sight of the hideously ugly baby who caused the death of his beloved wife. He grabs hold of the baby and runs into the street, eventually leaving him on the stairs of care home for the elderly. Due to some bizarre twist of fate Benjamin has been born as a frail old man (in a baby-sized body) and grows 'younger' instead of older.

He is found by a young black woman who runs the care home and she takes him in and raises him as her own. The focus of the movie is the relationship that Benjamin forms with Daisy, the granddaughter of one of the residents. Without giving away the whole plot of the story, Benjamin and Daisy's paths cross at regular intervals (sometimes these meetings are wonderful and at other times it goes horribly wrong). There is a very brief few years in which they meet and their apparent ages allow them to be together before Benjamin realises that he cannot burden Daisy and their daughter with his affliction.

The story is wonderfully romantic and you feel a keen sense of regret at this impossible love shared by the two main characters. What is not believable is that Benjamin somehow ends up being a well-balanced young man when he had such a bizarre and isolated upbringing. The character portrayal of Benjamin Button by Brad Pitt reminds me a lot his character in 'Meet Joe Black'. He uses the same sort of facial expressions and they are both sensitive, well-spoken individuals.

I think that 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' is worth watching, even if it is only to see what Brad Pitt will look like as an old man. As I mentioned before it is a case of love it (me) or hate it(my husband).

The DVD costs about £12.

Summary: Worth watching if you like a good drama/romance