May 26, 2012

Video Views Pick: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

by Art Slavin | Published May 5, 2009

directed by David Fincher
PG-13; 157 minutes

With Hurricane Katrina heading into New Orleans, an old woman on her hospital deathbed asks her daughter to read from a diary tucked into her overnight case. So Caroline (Juia Ormond) begins to tell the fascinating story of love between her mother Daisy (Cate Blanchett) and Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), the keeper of the diary. Baby Benjamin, born in 1918, had all the physical attributes of an 80-year-old man, so his distraught father left him on the doorstep of an old people’s home managed by Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), who took the child in and raised him as her own. As Benjamin got older, he appeared younger, and after a while he realized that his life was moving backwards. But it included the strangest events, including friendship with a pygmy, adventures on a tugboat, a love tryst with a married woman (Tilda Swinton) and the criss-crossing relationship with Daisy. It’s a heartwarming tale of life from an unusual angle.

DVD Extras: Two-disc DVD has commentary from director David Fincher; documentary covers casting, choice of location, costumes, visual effects and more

Go to http://www.morevideoviews.com/subscriptions/freecopy to get a FREE ISSUE of Video Views magazine, featuring the month’s new releases, the top 50, a movie contest, feature columns, games, staff picks and more.