"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

The movie, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," came out in the United States in December 2008. This movie is loosely based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story of the same title. It's a backwards love story where Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born 84-years-old and starts "un-aging" backwards to an infant.

He meets many strange and loving characters along his journey of life, and before long, you see that Button is a really nice person, someone you wouldn't mind having as a friend. He holds no grudges against the people who betrayed him at birth. When he realizes that he's not like others, he starts keeping a diary, which ultimately finds its way to his true love, Daisy (Cate Blanchette). Daisy is aging while Button is growing younger and eventually becomes a child, then an infant. Daisy reads to him on his death bed, from his diary. This movie takes care to make sure the audience understands the intricate twists and turns. In Button's trips around the world, Daisy has saved his postcards to her, but is too dedicated to her dancing career to allow her to be with him. In this heartwarming love affair, you know that the end will be sad.

The movie was nominated for many awards and came away with 14 wins. The aging makeup for Brad Pitt is a work of art, as are all the special effects. It's obvious that all the characters were very carefully chosen. The movie was a box office hit, but the critics were mixed. It seems Hollywood is presently stuck in reality. The old fantasy love stories will still work and we wonder why they are so few and far between.