'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008'

The Story
Fitzgerald lifted the premise of his story from a quote attributed to Mark Twain: "Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18." The Curious Case of Benjamin Button screenwriter Eric Roth follows Fitzgerald and Twain's musings, focusing on a special man who ages backwards.
The film begins with Benjamin Button's birth in New Orleans in 1918. His mother dies in childbirth and his father (Jason Flemyng), upon seeing Benjamin's ancient crinkly face, races from the house in horror with the bizarre baby cradled in his arms. He leaves the newborn on the stairs of a nursing home run by Queenie (Taraji P Henson), a practical woman with a lot of love to give.



Paramount PicturesAlthough the doctors believe Benjamin's time on earth will be short, Benjamin proves everyone wrong. Under Queenie's care, he progresses from the size of a newborn into a short, misshapen elderly man who looks to be in his 80s, which makes him fit right in with the real senior citizens who come to the nursing home to live out their final days. Benjamin's accepted by the elderly folk who reside at the home, and in fact it's one of the residents who introduces Benjamin to the young girl who will become the great love of his life. Daisy (played as a youngster by Elle Fanning and in later years by Cate Blanchett) is an intelligent, free-spirited girl who feels an immediate bond with Benjamin, despite what appears on the surface to be a great difference in their ages. With Daisy, Benjamin can play and act like a child - albeit a child whose body shows all the classic signs of old age.
As Benjamin grows ever-so-slowly younger, he begins to long for a life outside the walls of the nursing home. Feeling his oats, Benjamin signs on to a tugboat and discovers much about the world. Still, Daisy's always on his mind. And after overcoming impossible odds, the two do reconnect at a point in their lives where his body is physically close in age to hers. Their love has endured for years, but as Benjamin continues his backwards journey through life, he remains firm in the belief that nothing lasts forever.