"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

[Amy]

In trying to get the ball rolling here, I'll mention "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".

I found the short story to be an interesting page turner. I was a little shocked at everyone's reaction to Benjamin. His wife didn't seem to like him all that much and his own father wished he'd been born with darker skin so he could have sold him downtown at the slave market. Now THAT'S something I bet didn't make it into the movie, and it dates the story to years before Fitzgerald actually wrote it.

So guys, how was the movie? I hope it fleshed out Benjamin's life more than the short story did. Discuss.

[Donna]

Amy,

I loved the film but haven't read F. Scott Fitzgerald's story. From your brief synopsis, it sounds like the film was quite different from the story. Race isn't an issue in the film, which is pre-occupied with the theme of the mutable nature of time. Blanchett's and Pitt's virtuoso performances make them believable at all ages and capture both the lyrical joy and rending grief of an impossible love.

[Amy]

Donna wrote: "Amy,

I loved the film but haven't read F. Scott Fitzgerald's story. From your brief synopsis, it sounds like the film was quite different from the story. Race isn't an issue in the film, which i..."

The only thing the movie takes from the short story is the idea of a child born as an old man that "grows up" to be a baby. Every other detail is different. In the short story, the mother doesn't die in childbirth and the father doesn't leave the child to be raised at an old folks home. I did like the movie, but it really had almost nothing in common with the original story.