The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A closer look at the story

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells the life story of a man who arrives in the world under very strange circumstances. A blind clockmaker who lost his son in the First World War builds a clock for a railway station that deliberately runs backwards, in the hope that those who went away might somehow return. Sharing that same unnatural reversal, Benjamin Button is born an old man and, rather than ageing, grows younger as the years go by. Starting out in a nursing home in New Orleans, he does his best to fit in despite a body that runs the wrong way. While he is still young he meets Daisy, who keeps coming and going in his life while she becomes a dancer, and at first he tries to stay away from her because of how old he looks. Through all his unusual adventures, what keeps him going is what he shares with Daisy, along with his hope that they might one day meet at the right moment. David Fincher directed this 166-minute fantasy romance from 2008, written by Eric Roth. Brad Pitt plays Benjamin and Cate Blanchett plays Daisy, with Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond and Jason Flemyng also in the cast.