The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Critics Consensus

Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an epic fantasy tale with rich storytelling backed by fantastic performances.

72%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 254

80%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 690,719

Where to watch

Show all services

Rate And Review

User image

Verified

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Rate this movie

    Oof, that was Rotten.

    Meh, it passed the time.

    It’s good – I’d recommend it.

    Awesome!

    So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

    What did you think of the movie? (optional)

  • You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Step 2 of 2

    How did you buy your ticket?

    Let's get your review verified.

    • Fandango

    • AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew

    • Cinemark Coming Soon

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Regal Coming Soon

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Theater box office or somewhere else

    By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

    You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

  • User image

    Super Reviewer

    Rate this movie

    Oof, that was Rotten.

    Meh, it passed the time.

    It’s good – I’d recommend it.

    Awesome!

    So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

    What did you think of the movie? (optional)

  • How did you buy your ticket?

    • Fandango

    • AMCTheatres.com or AMC AppNew

    • Cinemark Coming Soon

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Regal Coming Soon

      We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

    • Theater box office or somewhere else

    By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Videos

View All Videos (1)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Photos

View All Photos (139)

Movie Info

Born under unusual circumstances, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) springs into being as an elderly man in a New Orleans nursing home and ages in reverse. Twelve years after his birth, he meets Daisy, a child who flickers in and out of his life as she grows up to be a dancer (Cate Blanchett). Though he has all sorts of unusual adventures over the course of his life, it is his relationship with Daisy, and the hope that they will come together at the right time, that drives Benjamin forward.
  • Rating:
    PG-13 (Language|Brief War Violence|Sexual Content|Smoking)
  • Genre:
    drama, fantasy, romance
  • Original Language:
    English
  • Director:
    David Fincher
  • Producer:
    Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Ceán Chaffin
  • Writer:
    Eric Roth
  • Release Date (Theaters):
     wide
  • Release Date (Streaming):
  • Box Office (Gross USA):
    $127.5M
  • Runtime:
  • Production Co:
    Kennedy/Marshall

Cast & Crew

Brad Pitt
Benjamin Button
Cate Blanchett
Daisy
Taraji P. Henson
Queenie
Julia Ormond
Caroline
Jason Flemyng
Thomas Button
Mahershala Ali
Tizzy
Jared Harris
Captain Mike
Elias Koteas
Monsieur Devereaux
Phyllis Somerville
Grandma Fuller
Tilda Swinton
Elizabeth Abbott
David Fincher
Director
Eric Roth
Screenwriter
Frank Marshall
Producer
Kathleen Kennedy
Producer
Ceán Chaffin
Producer
Alexandre Desplat
Original Music
Jacqueline West
Costume Designer
Angus Wall
Film Editor
Kirk Baxter
Film Editor
Donald Graham Burt
Production Design
Show all Cast & Crew

News & Interviews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

RT on DVD: Benjamin Button, Bollywood Kung Fu, and a Special Twilight Set
Slumdog‘s Danny Boyle Wins DGA Award
Oscar Nominations Announced: Benjamin Button Leads With 13
View All

Critic Reviews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

All Critics (254) | Top Critics (55) | Fresh (182) | Rotten (72)

  • A sumptuous and stirring romantic drama.

    May 12, 2020 | Full Review…

    Richard Brody

    New Yorker
    Top Critic

  • Quote not available.

    November 24, 2011 | Rating: 3/5

    David Fear

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an anodyne Hollywood film that offers a safe and sanitised view of life and death. It's Forrest Gump goes backwards.

    February 12, 2009 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Cosmo Landesman

    Times (UK)
    Top Critic

  • Fincher treats Roth's script with a visual bravura and narrative gusto far beyond the usual capacities of the Hollywood mainstream. Benjamin Button is a poetic, virtuoso feat, as eloquent and rapturous as CGI-era cinema gets.

    February 10, 2009 | Full Review…

    Jonathan Romney

    Independent (UK)
    Top Critic

  • Remove "curious" from the title and replace it with "twee and pointless", and you're close to it. What a incredible shaggy-puppy of a movie, a cobweb-construction patched together with CGI, prosthetics, gibberish and warm tears.

    February 6, 2009 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…

    Peter Bradshaw

    Guardian
    Top Critic

  • The anti-Slumdog Millionaire: a film that's stately, tasteful and genteelly melancholic rather than fevered, rollicking and euphoric. It's a film about time that seems almost out of time.

    February 6, 2009 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Sukhdev Sandhu

    Daily Telegraph (UK)
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (254)

Audience Reviews for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

  • Dec 30, 2014
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a sentimental reflection on the ephemeral nature of love and of life.
    Eddie C Super Reviewer
  • Nov 01, 2014
    a good story, an extra half a star 'cause thought it wouldn't work but it did. different to Finchers usual stuff!
    Sanity Assassin ! Super Reviewer
  • Dec 09, 2013
    David Fincher delivers his most sincere venture yet, with the almost three hour epic drama "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button". Centered on an infant born with the qualities of an old man, complete with cataracts and arthritis, abandoned by his father, and taken in by a black woman named Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), the story of the film follows as the boy ages backwards, becoming physically younger every day, but inhabiting the mind of the age to which a normal human would. Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button for a better part of the film, mostly through CGI, yet still commands this role with a sincerity and integrity that is admirable. Cate Blanchett plays the love interest, Daisy, to whom Benjamin falls in love with at a very young age, as the narrative follows the two of them through their entire lives, eventually meeting at the middle of their lives when they look about the same age. The story is told through flashbacks as Daisy lays in a hospital bed, very aged and on her last legs of life, as her daughter reads to her from Benjamin's journal. This device is used more like chapter markers than anything as we venture through this sordid tale and adds very little besides a few telegraphed twists not are not delved into. The CGI is done as well as possible but still comes off less than authentic, showing the signs of the computer generated that should be more than covered up with how far technology has come. With some unnecessary jaunts in the story like being involved in the Pearl Harbor bombing aftermath and most of the fishermen story, this film could have been slightly shorter, but in having covered a characters entire life, that long run-time can slightly be forgiven. At no point does the film feel like a David Fincher film, remaining too upbeat and emotional than any of his previous work, creating this grand tale that truly brings to life the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
    Christopher H Super Reviewer
  • Sep 21, 2013
    A great piece of story telling. Very compelling acting along with breathtaking cinematography. It is one of those movies you just have to see.
    Jarrin R Super Reviewer
See all Audience reviews

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Quotes

View All Quotes

Movie & TV guides