It Was nice to have met you

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

In the last few weeks I haven’t written any movie reviews. This isn’t because I haven’t seen any movies but because there was nothing that I have seen that moved me to write one. The movies I have seen in the last while have been either mediocre or so bad that I refused to waste my time in thinking about them. I had already spent the money to be bored and there was just nothing to say about them after that. But then this Christmas has brought a gift to theatres, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This is the kind of movie that reminds you why you love the movies.

It is a flash back movie that takes place in New Orleans at the point when Katrina was about to hit. But then the life of Benjamin Button takes you all over the world; a wondrous story about a man that was born old and grows into his youth. It is grand, epic, beautiful, and sad story about family, friendship, love and pain. It is funny at times, heart wrenching, and delightful. This is what story telling is all about.

It is not a story line that is easy to explain without this post being very long and filled with boring description. This movie truly takes the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” to the extreme. The make up they use to age and reverse age, the detail in costume, setting, and cinematography in this film is simply awe inspiring.

I do not use all the adjectives haphazardly. This is one of the few movies that almost moved me to tears and made me laugh at the same time but this is no chick flick. Yes there is a love story but there are trips to brothels, wars, explosions, and random nonsense.

All the performances in this film are exquisite. And this is not just from the two main characters portrayed by Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchet, whose on screen chemistry is unmistakable, but also it’s wide ranging supporting cast. There is Jason Flemyng who played Benjamin’s birth father Thomas who is sad lonely and mournful; Taraji P Hensen played Benjamin’s sure footed and loving adoptive mother Queenie; Jarred Harris who played the drunken boisterous Captain Mike; and Elizabeth Abbott, Tilda Swinton, the second woman Benjamin falls in love with.

I don’t know what else to say about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. If I say more I may ruin the experience for you but I don’t think there is anything I can say that will convey what this film is really about. The only way to experience it is to see it.

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