The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

This movie is based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald which was in turn influenced by an idea of Mark Twain’s. Twain’s idea was that a man’s life should be the other way around because he is at his best at the beginning of it and at his worst at the end. The movie’s premise is that timing is everything and that age will always catch up with us – it even caught up with Benjamin Button who aged in reverse.

Benjamin is born as an old man in New Orleans in the early 1900s. Doctors are at a loss to explain aging symptoms, such as arthritis, similar to those of men in their eighties. As the years pass he becomes younger. People around him, including his mother and biological father, die one after the other, just as they probably would have if was aging normally. He finds love with Daisy, played by Cate Blanchett, who he has known since she was a small child (and he an old man). Theirs is the classic Hollywood romance of star-crossed lovers destined to be together one day, but destined also for a rough ride getting there. It is not until Daisy is in her 30s that they become lovers and it is perfect timing as Benjamin is now in the prime of his life. Blanchett does a wonderful job of demonstrating the narcissisms of youth and the beauty of aging. Her younger character was indeed completely self-absorbed and a strong contrast to the more likeable woman she becomes. As she tells Benjamin one day, “I’m so glad we didn’t get together when I was 26—I was so young”.

Daisy and Benjamin ‘meet in the middle’ at around 42 around about the time Daisy falls pregnant. After the birth of their daughter, Benjamin decides to leave Daisy because he thinks he can’t be a good father to a child if he only continues to get younger. Furthermore he does not want to become another child for Daisy to look after. I was very disappointed with this turn of events and thought that the love story could have been so much deeper and stronger had he remained with Daisy. After all, a committed and loving couple don’t just separate when the going gets tough—regardless of what happens they look after each other. Furthermore, I couldn’t think of a better father for a child. A man who gets younger as his daughter gets older—perfect! Instead, Benjamin goes to India. Images of him washing in the Ganges, riding a motorbike and being a ‘solitary male’ follow. What a cliché!

Apart from this disappointing turn of events, the movie was a success overall. The acting was very good—Brad Pitt is absolutely brilliant as a curious old man and again as a thoughtful and sensitive young man. I wish Cate Blanchett had aged a bit more—she was absolutely stunning until she was over 60. Maybe I’m just jealous!

The moral of the story was clearly to grab hold of life because time waits for no-one. I certainly emerged from the 3 hour film with the reinforced idea that because time catches up with us no matter what we do, we ought to make the most of every day.