Brief Summary of Plot:
The following is a very brief summary of the key points for purposes of my review.  If you want a thorough recount, try imdb.com or wikipedia.org.  <<Spoiler alert -- skip this section if you don't want to know the ending>>

In August 2005, an elderly Daisy (Cate Blanchett) is on her deathbed with her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) in a New Orleans hospital as Hurricane Katrina approaches.  Daisy asks Caroline to read from an old leatherbound journal.  The story goes between the deathbed reading and the acting of the events in the journal.  As we quickly learn, Benjamin Button was born in New Orleans following the end of WWI.  His mother died in childbirth and his father, a buttonmaker, ran off with Button and placed him on the doorstep of an old person's / retirement home.  Button has a disorder that makes him age in reverse.  So, he was born looking old even though his mind is apparently young.  A black woman who works at the old person's home adopts Button as her son and raises him. 

Button meets a young girl who is visiting her grandmother in the home.  We learn that the girl is Daisy, the same woman who is now in her deathbed.  Button has an immediate spark with Daisy even though he looks quite old compared to her.  The movie depicts Button reverse aging (i.e. becoming younger) and experiencing life.  He takes a job on a tugboat, meets people, and travels.  Along the way, he has a few adventures (think Forrest Gump -- but far less interesting).  Button eventually meets his estranged father and learns about how he was born.  Throughout the film, Button keeps re-connecting with Daisy.  It is apparent that he struggles with actually succumbing to his love for her.  In fact, in one scene, Daisy practically throws herself at Button to ask him to sleep with her and Button refuses.  It is a hit and miss romance for much of the movie until Daisy and Button connect and move in together.  They eventually have a baby girl together and we learn that the girl is Caroline, Daisy's daughter. 

The movie closes showing Button becoming a normal looking baby and dying in Daisy's arms.  Daisy, in turn, dies in the hospital during Hurricane Katrina. 

Cast:
    * Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button – adult
    * Spencer Daniels as Benjamin Button –  age 12
    * Cate Blanchett as Daisy Fuller – adult
    * Elle Fanning as Daisy Fuller – age 6
    * Madisen Beaty as Daisy Fuller – age 11
    * Taraji P. Henson as Queenie
    * Julia Ormond as Caroline Fuller
    * Jason Flemyng as Thomas Button
    * Mahershalalhashbaz Ali as Tizzy Weathers
    * Jared Harris as Captain Mike
    * Elias Koteas as Monsieur Gateau
    * Ed Metzger as Theodore Roosevelt
    * Phyllis Somerville as Grandma Fuller
    * Josh Stewart as Pleasant Curtis
    * Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth Abbott
    * Bianca Chiminello as Daisy's Friend, Ballerina who breaks shoelace.
    * Rampai Mohadi as Ngunda Oti

Impression of the Movie:

I was drawn to see this movie because I actually saw some of the filming of the beach scenes (a one minute clip in this 166 minute film) in the US Virgin Islands.  Yes, that is where this very small snipit was filmed.

I went into this movie with high expectations.  The idea of reverse aging, in theory, seems like it could yield some interesting stories and a unique plot.  But, the entire movie languishes -- think Driving Miss Daisy on "slow mode."  While the stories effectively show the spectrum of age and the difficulties one faces along that spectrum, the plot is plain and overly somber.  I understand the philosophical intent of showing what really matters in these character's lives -- swimming the English Channel, Getting Struck by Lightning, Finding Love.  But, this point was not made with any flair or with any unique perspective.  For instance, the Benjamin Button character takes on a very shy, quiet personality and his life story is just not that interesting.  He wanders through his life seemingly depressed at his state of being and removing himself from his love for the sole point of making her life better.  While it is a sad romance that he and his "normal-age" love could not be together because the age reversal created problems, the story makes me feel as though I have gained nothing from seeing it.  What message was in this film?  That life is short and you need to make the best of it.  Or is it that memories, not age, are important.  In either event, the message I took away is why waste your life on this piece of trash film.  If I could reverse time, I certainly would not!

Recommended: No

Movie Mood: None of the Above
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Everything