The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.

Director:

David Fincher

Writers:

Eric Roth (screenplay), Eric Roth (story),

Stars:

Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Julia Ormond

Won 3 Oscars. Another 42 wins & 80 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cate Blanchett	...	Daisy
Brad Pitt	...	Benjamin Button
Julia Ormond	...	Caroline
Faune A. Chambers	...	Dorothy Baker (as Faune Chambers)
Elias Koteas	...	Monsieur Gateau
Donna Duplantier	...	Blanche Devereux
Jacob Tolano	...	Martin Gateau (as Jacob Wood)
Earl Maddox	...	Man at Train Station
Ed Metzger	...	Teddy Roosevelt
Jason Flemyng	...	Thomas Button
Danny Vinson	...	Priest Giving Last Rites
David Jensen	...	Doctor at Benjamin's Birth
Joeanna Sayler	...	Caroline Button
Taraji P. Henson	...	Queenie
Mahershala Ali	...	Tizzy (as Mahershalalhashbaz Ali)

Storyline

On the day that Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, elderly Daisy Williams (nee Fuller) is on her deathbed in a New Orleans hospital. At her side is her adult daughter, Caroline. Daisy asks Caroline to read to her aloud the diary of Daisy's lifelong friend, Benjamin Button. Benjamin's diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being diagnosed with several aging diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time. Abandoned by his biological father, Thomas Button, after Benjamin's biological mother died in childbirth, Benjamin was raised by Queenie, a black woman and caregiver at a seniors home. Daisy's grandmother was a resident at that home, which is where she first met Benjamin. Although separated through the years, Daisy and Benjamin remain in contact throughout their lives, reconnecting in their forties when in age they finally match up. Some of the revelations ...

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Plot Keywords:

button | diary | aging | hurricane katrina | hurricane | 

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Taglines:

Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian French

Release Date:

25 December 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Benjamin Button

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,213,495 (UK) (6 February 2009)

Gross:

$127,490,802 (USA) (17 April 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Kennedy/Marshall Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

166 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Spike Jonze was once in talks to direct this movie.

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Goofs

Benjamin spends a few idyllic weeks in Murmansk in December 1941 (there he hears the news about Pearl Harbor). But in June 1941 Russia was invaded by Germany. As one of the main bases of the Soviet navy, Murmansk was constantly under ferocious attacks, up until October 1944. So in no way could it be as peaceful and quiet there as we see in the movie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Daisy: What are you looking at, Caroline?
Caroline: The wind, mom.
[yawns]
Caroline: They say the hurricane is coming.

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Crazy Credits

The end credits run as a slide show instead of the traditional upward scroll.

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Connections

Referenced in Chelsea Lately: Episode #7.73 (2013)

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Soundtracks

"DICH, TEURE HALLE"
Written by Richard Wagner
Performed by Kirsten Flagstad
Courtesy of Simax Classics/Grappa Muskkforlag

User Reviews

A great, worth film

This film is worthy of a 10/10 rating simply because of its imaginative and complex nature, I mean, I couldn't bring myself to know why this simple idea of a man aging backwards hadn't sprouted up before. Set all the way back at the end of the Great War, to New Orlean's meeting with Hurricane Katrina, this movie tells the story of Benjamin Button, a baby born an old man of eighty, destined to die in the mere form of a zero-year-old. I found this movie very emotional and special because there's reeally nothing like it. I honestly thought, when I found out the immense length of the film, it was going to be boring....I was wrong, it gripped me from start to finish. There are many emotional and touching scenes in it, including the end, where it brings forth Benjamin Button's 'younger' years as an old man. Nothing went wrong with the cast, Brad Pitt played a great job as a reverse-aging man, and Cate went well as his childhood friend. Overall, this movie was great and I recommend it to anyone who loves the genre.