The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is stunning filmmaking. It had me on an emotional edge for much of its rather lengthy 2:48. It ponders significant philosophical questions within a technological marvel of such subtlety it's easy to forget that the film is special effects laden.

Brad Pitt (Benjamin) and Cate Blanchette (Daisy)--through the wonders of digitization--each play their characters from mid-teen to death. Or in Pitt's case from 80-ish to his mid-teens. This adds a poignancy that is critical to the film's success and makes for an even more curious case.

Benjamin ages backwards in a world moving forward. He's born in a crippled, arthritic body and dies in a child's body confused by dimentia. Daisy is Benjamin's enduring love, but they can only consummate that love as their ages converge for a few short years. There's a sadness, then, that runs throughout The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but there's also such beauty in the lives of Benjamin, his family and his love.

The acting is fantastic, with Pitt and Blanchette doing great work. The moment Benjamin first lays eyes on Daisy you see this wide-eyed young man peering out of this septuagenarian body. For Benjamin, what you see is never what is inside his body--except for middle age. Pitt, though sometimes too detached, is exactly right. Blanchette is the fire and emotion in the film. Tilda Swinton also gives a stunning, brief performance. Her reappearance late in the film via television sets the final act of the film in motion stunningly.

It's odd to be writing words like "stunning" or "fire" in a film that succeeds because it is so subtle. But it is a truly fine film--one of the best of the year--and frequently breathtaking.