"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.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a simple but intriguing and fantastic idea and story brought to fruition and life. The idea of aging back-words is almost so unworldly and alien that you find yourself completely drawn in and enthralled by the movie. The idea and story is so simple but so rich at the same time brought to life by great acting, wonderful story telling and an amazing attention to detail. The movie is done so well it is the kind of film that you will remember ten or maybe even fifty years from now. It is the kind of film that sticks with you a long time and the kind of movie that you can have deep and thought provoking conversations about. And if that isn't one of the greatest praises you can give a film I don't know what is.

Who wouldn't be interested by the idea of instead of slowly getting older instead always getting younger and at the end of our lives being at the peak of our physicality rather than in its downside? But that makes it a tale of mortality, a tale that makes you think about your own mortality. But it is also a sad tale since Benjamin Button is the only one of his kind that his story is very sorrowful and truly sad. He has to watch everyone he knows and loves get older as he himself gets younger. He has to fight with his own mortality every day and can not ignore it like many of us do until a decade has gone by and it hits us all of a sudden he has to face it daily. Benjamin is also robbed of his youth and his old age at the same time. So vulnerable and old when he young he never gets a child hood and after living for so long and learning so much he can not truly enjoy his golden years like many people can as well. It is these thoughts, these emotions that the movie stirs up that makes it so good and is why you will remember the movie for so many years.

For those not in the know the movie is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and while you can tell they change a lot of elements for the film it still has that very Jazz age Fitzgerald feel to it. The movie begins in 1918 and a good portion of the film does take place during the roaring 1920's which was the height of Fitzgerald and the Jazz age not to mention the movies takes place in New Orleans the home and birth of Jazz. But the film goes all the way up to 2003 right before Katrina hits in a time that Fitzgerald could never have imagined. But the movie still feels like that almost surreal Film Noir of a time long gone and oh so fascinating. The jazz age, a time almost as mythical as any other time frame and something so foreign to us now days that it ads another rich texture to an already fascinating movie.

I have said for years and years the last movie to truly blow me away with special effects and that left my jaw on the ground was Jurassic Park. With Benjamin Button I might have to reassess that statement as for the first time in a long time I was completely blown away by the effects and they were such subtle effects to boot. After seeing the movie I want to go back and watch Thelma and Louise to compare a young Brad Pitt to what they did in the movie because they did such an amazing job you almost felt like he was getting younger right before your eyes. I thought for sure they would just go as far as makeup could take them and then skip a decade or two and recast Pitt's role with a teenage or child actor. The fact that they were able to actually have Pitt for almost all of the movie is another reason why you will remember this movie twenty years down the road and another reason the movie was so good.

Brad Pitt is one of my favorite actors in Hollywood right now and may also be one the best actors working right now. Every movie he is in he gives a great performance and makes the movie that much better by being in it. In fact you would be hard pressed to find a movie that he has made that wasn't at least enjoyable or great that’s how good of an actor he is and his performance in Benjamin Button is just as great as any of his earlier performances. I am not much of a fan of Cate Blanchett and to me she was the one lone downside to the movie as she almost always seemed a little melodramatic in every scene she was in. But in the end the movie is a fantastic tale that will engross and amaze you.

Grade: A-