Must See: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

(Above: Taraji P. Henson and Brad Pitt earned Screen Actors Guild nods for their work)

The film adaptation of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button doesn’t share much with the story by F. Scott Fitzgerald beyond the title and the name of the central character. Still, the film embodies the spirit of that whimsical short story. It contemplates what it means to be young, to age, to lose. And the shock of the title character’s passing – as an infant in the arms of a caretaker – is still palpable.

The movie stars Brad Pitt in the title role, but its soul belongs to Kate Blanchett and Taraji P. Henson. Blanchett is Daisy, “a dancer, bohemian and all-around free spirit who ages gracefully, before our eyes, into a stately modern matron and then into a wasted, breathless old woman.”

Henson plays Queenie, Benjamin’s adopted mother, and she ages from 26 to 71 in the film. Her performance earned accolades, including a Critics’ Choice and Screen Actors Guild nods.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a satisfying epic, held together by powerful performances and a subtly of direction. It doesn’t feel like your standard dramatic fair. There isn’t a huge legal battle, government conspiracy, plot to murder or overtly obvious CGI effects. What you get is what the New Republic’s Christopher Orr called a “a film of mood, not motion.” But David Ansen of Newsweek described it best: “Lyrical, original, misshapen and deeply felt, this is one flawed beauty of a movie.”