Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) was born under unusual circumstances. As everyone around him grew older, he aged backwards, making the challenges of life such as creating friendships, finding a job and falling in love all the more difficult and heartbreaking.

In spite of the hype, I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on opening day. The beginning sucked, the middle was ok, the end was too long. However, as always it was great watching Cate Blanchett on screen. She’s one of those actresses who can turn coal into diamonds in seconds just by being present. Brad Pitt was also very endearing as Button. Perhaps one his best performances yet.

I was expecting an epic tale that was both moving and thought provoking, instead the film’s moral was muddled and story development kept being interrupted by a recounting of Benjamin’s life story by an 80+ year old dying Daisy and her daughter played by Julia Ormond. The recounting was too contrived and interrupted the flow of the film to the extent I wanted that old woman to drop dead already!

Basically, it seemed like two stories running parallel to each other but only one I cared about. More to the point, 80 year old Daisy and her daughter Caroline seemed completely disconnected to the rest of the film. I’ve seen many films that do a good job of recounting films, like say Fried Green Tomatoes, where the recounting isn’t incessant, contrived and/or disconnected, and where you cared very much about both sets of characters in the present and the past.

Ultimately, I could have done without seeing this film and stayed home with my apple pie, whip cream and hop steaming cup of tea on Christmas.

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