'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' the best film in years

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Elle Fanning, Tilda Swinton

Cert: 12

The much-anticipated – and award/nomination festooned – film based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story finally arrives in a cinema near you … and absolutely nothing about it will disappoint.

Running to nearly three hours, this truly is an epic of outstanding quality, and however off-centre the premise is – Pitt plays the Benjamin Button of the title, a man whom fate has decreed will live his life in reverse from the age of 80 – it remains consistently grounded in reality.

This is thanks to the excellence of Fincher’s directing and the acting of Pitt and Blanchett as Daisy, Button’s life-long romantic interest.

Indeed, while Pitt has never been better in bringing us his strongest performance to date it is the wonderful Blanchett who walks off with the major honours. Together, at any rate, they make a formidable team of pure, soaring talent.

The film is, in addition to its dramatic impact, a visual masterpiece in its recreation of a life reeling backwards from the Hurricane Katrina disaster to WW1.

The film is, in essence, about the choices we make and the life we live to the full … and in all respects it is the finest film made in years.

Star Rating: 5/5