Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The (2008, USA) C-166m. SCOPE *** D: David Fincher. Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond, Elias Koteas, Jason Flemyng, Jared Harris, Tom Everett, Tilda Swinton. In a New Orleans hospital room, shortly before Hurricane Katrina will hit the city, a woman dying of cancer asks her daughter to read a story from a journal. It is the tale of a man who was born just after WW1 in New Orleans. His mother died giving birth and his father, thinking him to be disfigured, places him on the doorstep of an old people's home. It turns out Benjamin is living his life backwards, starting out as an old man and dying as an infant. Can his romantic involvement with dancer Blanchett last? Evocative story based on a F. Scott Fitzgerald story is well-told, although there are some unlikely coincidences. Fine score by Alexandre Desplat carries the film to a satisfactory conclusion. A winner, like Fincher's ZODIAC (2007). Winner of three minor Oscars, nominated for 13.