The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I didn't have many expectations going into this movie. I didn't know what it was about just that Brad Pitt's character was born old and dies young. I was pleasantly surprised of the use of technology and how realistic it looked. It didn't have that CGI "this is blatantly fake" effect. Despite its long run time-- I was totally engrossed into the storyline.

I will rate the following movies in four sections: (1) plot line (2) acting (3) mise en scene and (4) finals thoughts

(1) The short story was written F. Scott Fitzgerald. The same person who wrote the worst story that I was forced to read The Great Gatsby--but unlike Gatsby, this story was extremely well written. The only issue I had was the narrative bookend structure of the mother and the daughter. The fact that it was set during Hurricaine Katrina takes us away from the magical realism that this story conveys. The relationship between the mother and daugther was not explained well, they didn't seem that they were close and they didn't seem like they hated each other, it was just an undefined back story. Instead of appreciating the death of the old woman at the end, and her saying good night to Ben, I wondered if the daughter was going to survive Hurricaine Katrina-- that's not what I should be thinking when I walked out of the theatre.

(2) I have never been a huge Brad Pitt fan. Fight Club is arguably an amazing movie, but he isn't known for his amazing acting in that movie more for his insanely hott body. But I will say that Mr. Pitt blew me away. His accent was spot on and did not falter once. He was extremely beleivable. His face, his eyes clearly expressed his emotions and it was beautiful to see.

Cate Blanchette was also phenomenal. She reminded me of a young Barbara Streisand believe it or not. She wasn't beautiful but she wasn't ugly-- she was real. She wanted him and yet didn't want him. And you can see in her body language the internal struggle she had when Ben visited him in New York. Her dancing was beautiful. I was very impressed.

(3) The lighting didn't plan anything significant to the movie but one scene where lighting stands out in my mine-- when they were in the park. Cate Blanchette was dancing on the Gazebo. The light was coming from behind and she was a black silhouette. It was just amazing to see, her slow movements and dance represented how she felt toward's Benjamin. All of her emotions just seeped through the screen.

and (4) final thoughts:

I cried very much during this movie. So if you plan on seeing it, then you should definitely bring tissues. Anything that has to do with true love, always breaks me down. Therefore I give it a 4.5 out of 5. It looses points because it was a little long and redundant. Plus the Hurricaine Katrina aspect was...stupid.