Upon watching the movie for the first time in my 20s, I finally began to understand why the story leaves audiences in a melancholy, catatonic state, and it has nothing to do with death.
On the contrary, it had everything to do with life. Benjamin Button is loosely based upon a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who — in a letter to his editor, Harold Ober — sullenly acknowledged that he would be remembered for his flapper stories, like The Great Gatsby , and not his other works.
In Tales of the Jazz Age , Fitzgerald mentions that the idea for Benjamin Button came from a remark made by Mark Twain about how unfortunate it is that the best part of life is the beginning and the worst part is the end. In the short story, Benjamin Button is born as an old man and dies as a baby in a crib.
Throughout his life, he encounters many obstacles regarding the discrepancy between his age and his appearance. When he presents himself at the base, his superiors laugh and send him back home.
The best part of his life is seemingly the very middle, when he looks like a college student. Yet, arguably the biggest difference is the take on romance. After a few years, she grows older and her beauty fades. Benjamin becomes disinterested and goes to war to avoid being at home.
In the movie, however, the relationship between Benjamin and Daisy renamed as a tribute to The Great Gatsby endures time and distance. Their love story is part of the beauty of the movie. Benjamin and Daisy cannot be together when they meet, because they are both very young and Benjamin looks very old. Near the end of the movie, Benjamin becomes far too young and develops dementia — since his mind ages chronologically — which makes him forget Daisy. Photos Top cast Edit. Cate Blanchett Daisy as Daisy.
Julia Ormond Caroline as Caroline. Taraji P. Henson Queenie as Queenie. Fiona Hale Mrs. Hollister as Mrs. Patrick Thomas O'Brien Dr. Rose as Dr. David Fincher. Eric Roth screenplay story Robin Swicord story F. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. At her side is her adult daughter, Caroline. Daisy asks Caroline to read to her aloud the diary of Daisy's lifelong friend, Benjamin Button.
Benjamin's diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being diagnosed with several aging diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time. Abandoned by his biological father, Thomas Button, after Benjamin's biological mother died in childbirth, Benjamin was raised by Queenie, a black woman and caregiver at a seniors home.
Daisy's grandmother was a resident at that home, which is where she first met Benjamin. Although separated through the years, Daisy and Benjamin remain in contact throughout their lives, reconnecting in their forties when in age they finally match up. Some of the revelations in Benjamin's diary are difficult for Caroline to read, especially as it relates to the time past this reconnection between Benjamin and Daisy, when Daisy gets older and Benjamin grows younger into his childhood years.
Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments. Rated PG for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking. Did you know Edit. Trivia The hummingbird is the only bird in the world that can fly backwards. Hurricanes spin counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
These, among other "backward" motifs involving clocks and so on, tie in with the major thematic elements related to Benjamin Button living life in reverse. Goofs In when Daisy and Benjamin are having dinner, Daisy is smoking a filter cigarette. Just be careful with some of the adult content for you kids ages 13 and under! Film is misrated! Should be rated R for mature themes and a brief love scene. Parent Written by alovell July 15, Great for older teens, very thought-provoking This is a heavy and thought-provoking movie, good for teens who like serious content.
My teenager really loved it, and we both cried. There is a small amount of comic relief, which appeals to the younger teen, but probably not enough to engage them in the movie for its full length minutes!
The lead actress' New Orleans accent seems pretty fake several times. Positive Messages. Positive role models. Parent of a 9, 11, and year-old Written by 4mykids August 23, A very long big bore. Not suitable for young teens and young kids.
It takes too long in the beginning to get to the guts of the story. The old woman in the hospital is oftentimes very difficult to understand. The story itself is probably a good one but it takes too long to tell and there are roo many random scenes that do not add benefit. Overall a big bore.
The sexual scenes are not too bad The scenes go just enough over the edge that kids should not be seeing it. Not just another movie based off a book If you have the opportunity to read F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button before watching this movie of its namesake, I highly recommend you do so.
If not, you should consider reading it as the short story begins and ends far differently than the movie. After reading the short story and then watching the film, I did see where the inspiration for this great movie derived.
There's a type of character growth in Benjamin and sacrifices made are far more sympathetic than of the its original story. This movie carried along its characters with thought, humor, and care, something that was more of a dark humor in Fitzgerald's story. The Case Of Benjamin Button is a beautifully done movie, and although it bore my 9-year old niece to sleep, the teenagers were remained curious throughout the movie.
Parent of an infant-year-old Written by grrlie16 June 10, Adult Written by erbear89 June 8, You should think twice before going with a teen. In the first hour and a half, the main character has sex with three different women. That's just way over the top, and comletely uncalled for. Then you add inappropriate words on top. Way too mature for younger audiences. Mature subjects not suitable for young teens Mature subjects, long storyline, sexual content, bloody war violence and intense scenes may not be suitable for people aged 15 and under.
This is pretty much an adult film. But maybe because of the fantasy element, kids might like it. Parents are cautioned.
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