The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

**** Stars

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an experiment of time and a celebration of movies. It explores the territories of love through poetic curiosity. At nearly three hours, this is an epic throwback to classic filmmaking with a pinch of new school antics. You do not want to miss this one.

Brad Pitt gives a perfectly subtle performance in a film that analyzes life in a natural process. Life is not always fast-paced and director David Fincher respects this aspect while still entertaining the absolute hell out of the audience. Pitt plays the title character who is born old and slowly progresses into a younger and younger person. In the middle, he falls in love with Daisy (Cate Blanchett) and the two share a nostalgic love affair that lasts as long as possible given Benjamin's condition. Through time, he becomes a baby. This is all I will say about the plot of this movie. 

Why? Because the film is an exercise of realism sprinkled into a fantasy world with an unrestricted imagination. It's a story of a person's life with no focus on any particular event. It would be like describing the plot to one's life. Why would I want to ruin its wondrous unpredictability?

What you can take from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a reason to keep an imagination fresh and down to earth. Just because someone ages backwards does not mean they are any less human. I know it sounds insane and incoherent, but this film does such an outstanding job of keeping this lyrical fantasy realistic to the emotions of human morality. It's funny, touching, tragic, brilliantly directed, and alive with the flowing melody of humanistic livelihood.