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PAGE 12, JANUARY 5, 2009, THE ISLANDER
“Goin* to
the Show...
with...
Roland
Willis
THE CURIOUS CASE OF
BENJAMIN BUTTON
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond,
Tilda Swinton, & Taraji P. Henson
Directed by David Fincher
Written by Eric Roth & Robin Swicord
Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Running Time: 2 hours, 47 minutes
Rated PG-13 - Wartime violence
This curious short story by F. Scott
Fitzgerald, published in 1921, has
been turned into an amazing love story
by the talented writing team of Eric
Roth (The Good Shepherd, Munich,
Ali, Horse Whisperer, Forrest Gump)
and Robin Swicord (Jane Austen Book
Club, Memoirs of a Geisha) and the
beautiful direction of David Fincher
CPanic Room, Fight Club, Se7en, Alien
3).
The story bears little resemblance
to the original except for the key con
cept. .. a boy is bom with the physical
appearance of an 80-year-old man but
the mind of a baby, then, as he grows
up, his body grows younger but his
mind grows older.
His story is related through his
diary which is read by Caroline (Julia
Ormond) to her mother Daisy (Cate
Blanchett).
It is 2005 and an old, frail Daisy is
gasping her last in a hospital in New
Orleans as Hurricane Katrina is fast
approaching.
Daisy asks Caroline to fish an old
diary out of her trunk and to read it
to her. In this way the curious case of
Benjamin Button is told.
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Sea Island Rd. at Frederica Rd.
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MOVIES INFO.
634-9100
BARGAIN
MATINEES DAILY
BEDTIME STORIES (PG)
Mon-Thurs 12:10, 2:30,
5:00, 7:30, 9:55
THE CURIOUS CASE OF
BENJAMIN BUTTON (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 1:00, 4:30, 8:15
MARLEY & ME (PG)
Mon-Thurs 12:40, 4:20, 7:10, 10:00
VALKYRIE (PG)
Mon-Thurs 12:30, 4:00, 6:50, 9:55
SEVEN POUNDS (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 12:20, 4:10, 7:00, 9:45
THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX
(G)
Mon-Thurs 12:00, 2:15, 4:40, 7:20
YES MAN (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 12:05, 4:50, 7:40, 10:05
FOUR CHRISTMASES (PG-13)
Mon-Thurs 10:00
He is bom in New Orleans in 1918.
His mother dies in childbirth and his
father (Jason Fleming) is so appalled at
this monstrosity of a baby that he tries
to dump him in the canal but eventu
ally leaves him on the doorstep of a big
rambling house.
The owner, a black lady called
Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), and her
boyfriend Tizzy (Mahershalalhash-
baz Ali) stumble across the baby, and
Queenie immediately adopts him and
names him Benjamin.
Queenie runs a nursing home for old
folks in her house and is accustomed to
dealing with the ravages of old age.
The growing Benjamin is played by
three actors: Peter Donald Balalamenti
when he is 10-13 (physical age of TO
OT), Robert Towers when he is 14-16
(66-64) and Tom Everett when he is
IT-19 (63-61).
Death is a frequent visitor to
Queenie’s and Benjamin realizes at an
early age that nothing lasts forever.
Around this time he first meets
and falls in love with Daisy (Madisen
Beaty), a bony ten-year-old who is visit
ing her grandmother.
Benjamin gets his first job, in spite
of his apparent old age, as a deckhand
on a tugboat skippered by the fiery
Captain Mike (Jared Harris).
They go all over the world and just
before WWII find themselves in Mur
mansk, Russia, where Benjamin has
a wild affair with Elizabeth Abbott
(Tilda Swinton), the wife of a British
diplomat.
He sends Daisy a postcard from
every port and even tells her about
Elizabeth.
The affair ends when the U.S.A.
enters the war and Benjamin and com
pany become sailors in the Navy.
Daisy turns into Cate Blanchett and
Benjamin turns into Brad Pitt. After
the war they meet and after sever
al false starts their love brings them
together and they stay together as long
as possible as Daisy gets older and
Benjamin gets younger.
The makeup department does an
extraordinary job taking Daisy from a
teenager to the old lady dying in New
Orleans, and Benjamin from about age
60 till about age 16.
The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button is an unusual but thoroughly
endearing love story enhanced by the
sublime music score by Alexandre Des
plat (Golden Compass, Painted Veil,
The Queen, Syriana, The Girl in the
Pearl Earring).
Benjamin eventually realizes that
one thing lasts forever, and that is love.
My rating is A. “I
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