• Starring: Cate Blanchett
  • Summary: “I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. Benjamin Button is a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time. (Paramount Pictures) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 37
  2. Negative: 1 out of 37
  1. Superbly made and winningly acted by Brad Pitt in his most impressive outing to date.
  2. 60
    It's so almost moving -- a meticulously crafted mechanical bird -- that it nearly feels like the real thing.
  3. The movie's excruciating length is without dramatic or thematic justification.

See all 37 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 48 out of 176
  1. It's a very beautiful and sad movie. After we find out that Benjamin ages backwards (in this film), we know how it ends, but we still want to watch how. Why? Because David Fincher has done an incredible work here. Expand
    • 4 of 4 users said yes
  2. 5
    Benjamin Button is a great mixed bag of a film. Despite it's many problems (length, similarity to Forrest Gump), however, aren't its undoing. The undoing comes in the form of a distinct clash of ideas, inappropriately trying to mesh screenwriter Eric Roth's sentimental and wonderful view of the world with director David Fincher's cold nihilism and rewarding distance from connection. It is these two moods that tear apart Benjamin Button. Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. DW
    3
    3 for the tech. The plot, dialog, and acting deserve almost a zero. An interminable length for one Hallmark moment after another, punctuated by annoying voiceover and a pointless wraparound story that dragged hurricane Katrina into it. And just awful attempts at "folksy" southern accents. Ick. Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 176 User Reviews