Button’s backward life makes for touching film

There are certain films that deserve a massive roar of applause at the end of the credits to… There are certain films that deserve a massive roar of applause at the end of the credits to acknowledge the entire cast. I wish that the curtain would come up and out would walk all the players, holding hands and taking one unison bow. ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is a delightful fantasy that entertains with a perfect ensemble cast, beautiful cinematography, an intriguing story and deserves a standing ovation. Brad Pitt stars as Benjamin Button: born an old man who with every day becomes younger and younger. The film exposes Benjamin’s life from the 1920s to the 1970s and the extraordinary people he meets. ‘Curious Case’ has one of the best ensemble casts of any film this year. Most notable are Taraji P. Henson as Queenie, the caretaker of a nursing home that takes in an abandoned Benjamin from her doorsteps, and Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth Abbott, an older woman who starts an affair with Benjamin. Both actresses truly shine in creating lovable, interesting characters that flow well with the mysticism of the story. Cate Blanchett always puts on an enchanting performance, playing Benjamin’s love, Daisy, but the real gold medal must go to Pitt in one of his most unforgettable roles. There is something enduring about Pitt’s performance. Portraying a man that looks like he’s 65 but acts like an 18-year-old takes an extraordinary amount of talent. For some of the film, Pitt makes us forget that Benjamin is aging backward. For even just a brief second, every audience member thinks of Benjamin as just a man thirsting for adventure and life. However, once the magnitude of aging backward hits us, we ask questions that have no answer and that no one may ever understand. What is it like to age backward, never fitting in with any age group, too young for the old people, too old for the young people? What is it like to know how much time you will live? What if Benjamin was born not an old man, but a man in his twenties, aging backward to the inevitable end? Some people have been disturbed by this unnatural plot line, but ‘Curious Case’ is supposed to be a fantasy. Benjamin’s aging is a whimsical fluke of nature that makes us question our own existence and ways. ‘Curious Case’ is one of the most well-made movies this year. The cinematography is captivating and the computer graphics seamlessly breathtaking. Alexandre Desplat’s score continues to add to the fairy tale film with mystical chimes and piano. Yet, before I go and say that ‘Curious Case’ is the greatest film of the year, there is one complaint that must be addressed. Button’s story is being told as an elderly Daisy’s grown-up daughter reads his diary. These in-between scenes take place in August of 2005 in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Screenwriter Eric Roth made a dangerous mistake in putting these scenes of the present in a fairy tale film. ‘Curious Case’ does not need to be connected to the present ‘mdash; the story can live alone in the past, without a dying, hospital-ridden Daisy. Roth also makes a few more mistakes in what I term Forrest Gump Disease, not in regards to Tom Hanks’ character’s mental disability, but Roth’s (who penned ‘Forrest Gump’) many cliches and uncanny coincidences in his movies. While it’s easy to spot the symptoms of FGD, it is just as effortless to ignore them. But if Roth makes another film and writes the same once more, then I can officially put Forrest Gump Disease into the 2009 Physician’s Desk Reference.