Warner Bros. original movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was released December 25th, 2008.
#BenjaminButton made $335.8M at the international box office.
rottentomatoes: 72%
metacritic: 70
imdb: 7.8
oscars: 3 wins
golden globes: 5 nominations
Benjamin Button
Benjamin Button was born with a rare condition that ages him backwards in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1 nomination: 2009
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
1 nomination: 2009
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
1 nomination: 2009
“‘…Benjamin Button.’ And I was born under unusual circumstances. The first World War had ended… …and I’ve been told it was an especially good night to be born. She gave her life for me. And, for that, I am forever grateful.” — Benjamin Button
“It seemed I had found a home. But I didn’t know I was a child. I thought I was like everyone else there. An old man in the twilight of his life. Always had a healthy curiosity. What was up the street? Or around the next corner?” — Benjamin Button
“I loved her very much. She was my mother. Mama. Mama. Some days I feel different than the day before. Mama? How much longer I got? Some nights I’d have to sleep alone. I didn’t mind. I would listen to the house breathing. All those people sleeping. I felt safe.” — Benjamin Button
“It was a place of great routine. Every morning at 5:30, no matter the weather, General Winslow, US Army Retired, would raise the flag. Mrs. Sybil Wagner, once an opera singer of some note… …well, she sang Wagner. Aah… no matter the season, supper was served promptly at 5:30. Mo-las-ses. Molasses.” — Benjamin Button
“On Saturday nights, Mama’d make me go to church. Seven. But I look a lot older. Now when I look back on it, it was miraculous. But you know the saying, the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. There were so many birthdays. So we wouldn’t run out, we’d spare the candles. Death was a common visitor. People came and went. You always knew when someone left us. There was a silence in the house.” — Benjamin Button
“It was a wonderful place to grow up. I was with people who had shed all the inconsequences of earlier life. Left wondering about the weather, the temperature of a bath, the light at the end of a day. For everyone that died, someone would come to take their place. What’s Madjembe? I don’t think I have worms. That’s just how I am. I’m not a-spossed to. It’s dangerous.” — Benjamin Button
“What’s it like living in a cage? So then what’d you do? You were all alone? My pleasure, ma’am. Hey! Hey! It had been the best day of my life. It was Thanksgiving, 1930. I met the person who changed my life forever. Why, good day Mrs. Fuller… thank you, ma’am. Benjamin’s fine.” — Benjamin Button
“I never forgot her blue eyes. Why do you say that? What does she mean, answered her prayers? Oh, read it again, please. Who’s that? Oh, hi! Where are we going? I’m not supposed to play with matches. Okay. I’m not as old as I look. I’m not. Well, I heard mama and Tizzy whispering. They said I was gonna die soon, but… maybe not. Okay.” — Benjamin Button
“What’s wrong with me, mama? I never forgot her… …blue eyes. When that baby came, things were different. Babies were born, people died. A lot of folks been through that old house. Going? Where? What about your friend, the tall lady?” — Benjamin Button
Queenie
“Come on, you know I got nothing but work to do here. Stop all this foolishness. The air is sweet. Oh, hush! Let’s see here. You ain’t no slouch yourself. Ugh. Sweeter than I should’ve been. Oh, sweet Jesus. She got to stop doing that or it’s diapers for her. I’ll be right there, Miss Jameson! You’re so bad. What is it?”
“Oh, the Lord done something here. Poor baby. It’s for sho nobody wanted to keep it. Come on, baby. Hold your water! Okay. No, go, I’ll be back. Jane Childress, start her a bath! And mind your own business, Mrs. Duprey. You’ll be messing yourself soon enough. All right, Mrs. Hollister, I’ll be right with you, okay? Go on back upstairs, hear!”
“You are as ugly as an old pot, but you still a child of God. Mercy. I’ll be right there! Okay. You just wait right here for me, okay? They’re right here, Mrs. Hollister. See? Right around your pretty white neck. Come on. Hush that noise. Is Dr. Rose still here? I have something. Could you come downstairs? He’s dying?”
“My sister’s child. From Lafayette. She had an unfortunate adventure. The poor child, he got the worst of it. Come out white. You said he don’t have long. Mmm-mmm. No, this baby, he is a miracle. That’s for certain. Just like the kind of miracle one hopes to see. Ya’ll listen. Ya’ll listen up here. We gon’ have us a visitor that’s gon’ be staying with us for a little while. My sister had a child and she couldn’t see right by it, so… he’s known as… …Benjamin. Benjamin.”
“He’s not a well child, so we’re gonna have to take good care of him. Look, he’s prematurely old. Dr. Rose said he ain’t got much more time on this earth… Mr. Weathers, come back here. Please. You never know what’s coming for you. Stop banging that fork. It’s for eating, not playing with. And use your napkin, please, Mr. Benjamin.”
“Benjamin! That is dangerous. Come back over here. Stay put, child. Everybody feels different about themselves, one way or another. But we all going the same way. You’re on your own road, Benjamin. Just be thankful for what you’re given, hear? You already had longer than you supposed to. All right, baby, come on.”
“We got to put some life into these old sticks for you. Get you walking so you can help me out here. Come on now, hear? Benjamin! He’s got the Devil on his back, trying to ride him into the grave before his time. Yes! Yes! It’s all right. Yes. Come on. ♪ For he’s a jolly good fellow ♪. Take your pills today? Found medication under your pillow.”
“Where in God’s name have you been?! Get in here. I mean, you take my breath away, you know that? Oh, Lord, I was so worried about you. I have something to tell y’all while we’re giving thanks for God’s blessings. I had a miracle happen. The Lord saw fit to answer my prayers. Thanks. Thank you.”
“You are a different child. A man child. People aren’t gonna understand just how different you are. Come here. God hasn’t said yet, baby. Now go on to bed, hear? And behave yourself. Go on. Say your prayers, hear? ♪ Go to sleep, you little baby Your mama gone ‘way And your daddy gon’ stay ♪ Didn’t leave nobody but the baby ♪”
Tizzy Weathers
“Come on, Queenie. Come on. Just take some time. You look very handsome tonight, Miss Queenie. Handsome as I ever seen you. The brown matches your eyes. Hambert’s back in town. He came home legless, but he home. I know you were sweet on him one time… Queenie, now come on. It’s awful nice out here. Come on out back for a moment. Take your mind off things. What in God’s name?!”
“Hope I didn’t hurt it none stepping on it like that. We best leave it for the police. I’ll go.”
“Hambert sends his remembrances to you. Are you out of your right mind? I know you ain’t got all the part it takes to make one of your own… …but this ain’t yours to keep. It may not even be humankind.”
“Molasses. I learned to read when I was five. My grandfather was a dresser for a famous actor. He brung home every play for me to read. ‘Kind keepers of my weak decaying age… …let dying Mortimer here rest himself. Even like a man new haled from the rack. So fare my limbs with long imprisonment. And these gray locks, the pursuivants of death… argue the end of Edmund Mortimer.’ You thought I was plain ign’ant, didn’t you? The actor my grandfather worked for was John Wilkes Booth. He killed Abraham Lincoln. You never know what’s coming for you.”
“That’s Mr. Oti. He’s an acquaintance of acquaintance. He’s a Pygmy. Good people, supper is served.”
Daisy Button
“What are you looking at, Caroline? I’m on a… boat. I’m drifting. Oh, sugar… …there’s nothing left to do. Is what it is. Finding it harder to keep my eyes open. My mouth’s full of cotton. I’m curious. What comes next? They built the train station in 1918. My father was there the day it opened. He said they had… …a tuba band playing.”
“They had the finest clockmaker in all of the South… …to build that glorious clock. His name was… …Mr. Gateau. Mr. Cake. He was married to a Creole of Evangeline Parish… …and they had a son. Mr. Gateau was, from birth… …absolutely blind. When their son was old enough, he joined the army. And they prayed God would keep him out of harm’s way. For months, he did nothing but work on that clock. One day… …a letter came. And Mr. Gateau, done for the night… …went up, alone, to bed. And their son came home. They buried him in the family plot… …where he would be with them when their time came. Mr. Cake worked on his clock… …laboring… …to finish.”
“It was a morning to remember. Papa said there were people everywhere. Even Teddy Roosevelt came. Mr. Cake was never seen again. Some say he died of a broken heart. Some say he went to sea. You couldn’t disappoint me. In my dark suitcase. There’s a… diary. Mmm. Could you read it to me? I tried to read it a hundred different times. Just the sound of your voice, darling.”
“You have such a lovely voice. That clock just kept going… …year after… …year after year. Was there just company? Go on, Caroline.”
“Grandma! Look at me! Did you know turkeys aren’t really birds? They are in the pheasant family, can’t hardly fly. It’s sad, don’t you think? Birds that can’t fly? She’s gonna have a baby, silly. That’s what my mama said when I was gonna have a baby brother, but he didn’t live long ’cause he didn’t breathe right.”
“Again, read it again. I promise. Are you sleeping? It’s me, Daisy. ‘Kay, come on. Come on. Under here. Here, you light it. Don’t be a chicken. Light it. I’ll tell you a secret if you’ll tell me one. I saw my mama kissing another man. Her face was red from it. Your turn. I thought so. You don’t seem like an old person. Like my grandma. Are you sick? You’re odd. You’re different than anybody I’ve ever met. May I? Yes, ma’am. Mmm.”
Caroline Button
“The wind, Mom. They say the hurricane is coming. Can I do anything for you, Mom? Mmm? Make anything easier? Do you want anymore medication, mother? Doctor said you could have as much as you want. It’s okay… oh, Caroline. A friend told me that she never had the chance to say goodbye to her mother. I wanted to… I wanted to tell you how much, I’m gonna miss you so m… mom. Are you afraid? Sure.”
“I hope I haven’t disappointed you. Well, I know I don’t have much to show for myself. This? Is this what you want to do? Mom, it’s not exactly… okay. It’s dated, April 4th, 1985. It says ‘New Orleans.’ ‘This is my last will and testament. I don’t have much to leave, few possessions, no money, really. I will go out of this world the same way I came in: alone and with nothing. All I have is my story… …and I’m writing it now while I still remember it. My name is Benjamin…'”
“Is any of this true? Oh, Mom. It’s an ancient streetcar token. It’s shallow. Yeah, I’m okay reading. It was just Dorothy leaving. ‘On Sundays, the families would come visit. It was Thanksgiving, 1930.'”
“‘…blue eyes.’ Mom? Did you get that this Benjamin loved you from the first time that he saw you? Not many people experience that. Want me to go on? He crosses something out.”
Nurse
“I’ll tell you what, the storm system is still moving west… there, there, Miss Daisy. You gon’ scratch yourself to ribbons. No need for anybody to suffer. Excuse me. Do you mind if I make a call? Somebody’s watching my little boy.”
“How’s her breathing? They say it’ll reach us in a few hours, so I gotta get my baby and take him to my sister’s. They say there’s nothing to worry about in the hospital. Nurses’ll be right here if you need them. Are you okay? I shouldn’t be more than an hour.”
New Orleans, Louisiana
“It’s running backwards! I made it that way… …so that perhaps the boys we lost in the way might stand and come home again. Home to farm… …work… …have children. To live long, full lives. Perhaps my own son might come home again. I’m sorry if I’ve offended anybody. I hope you enjoy my clock.”
“We won the war! Great War is over! Thomas… …I’m afraid she’s going to die. Thomas. Promise me he has a place. Mr. Button. Thomas! Thomas! Where are you going?! Hey! What are you doing there? What do you have there? Miss Simone messed herself. Queenie’ll be right there.”
“Queenie? Where are you Queenie? Queenie, Apple, she went and messed herself all over again. Somebody stole my necklace. She won’t take a bath without you! My sister gave me those pearls. I can’t find them anywhere. Somebody’s been stealing my jewelry. I don’t know. Your heart is strong, You want to avoid any undue stimulation. I trust you ladies will help me out with that?”
“Never seen anything like it. Nearly blind from cataracts. Not sure if he can hear. His bones indicate severe arthritis. His skin has lost all elasticity, and his hands and feet are ossified. Shows all the deterioration… not of a newborn, but of a man well in his eighties on his way to the grave. His body is failing him before his life’s begun. Where’d he come from? There are places for unwanted babies like these, Queenie. There’s no room for another mouth to feed here. The Nolan Foundation, despite their good intentions, thinks this place is a large nuisance as it is. A baby… Queenie, some creatures aren’t meant to survive.”
“I had ten children. There’s not a baby I can’t care for. Let me see him. Oh, God in heaven. He looks just like my ex-husband. Well, join the club. He’s smiling! Same old crap every day. Could you make him stop that? Hey, boy. Go get him!”
“♪ Oh, Lamb of God, I come ♪ I come ♪♪ Amen! What can I do for you, sister? Her parts are all twisted up inside, and she can’t have little children. Ooh… Lord, if you could see clear to forgive this woman her sins so she can bear the fruit of the womb. Out, damnable affliction! Praise God! Praise God! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And what’s this old man’s irrediction? Out, Zebuchar! Out, Beelzebub! How old are you? God bless you. He’s seven. Now, this is a man with optimism in his heart. All right. Belief in his soul! Yes! We are all children in the eyes of God! We are gon’ get you out of that chair. We gon’ have you walk. In the name of God’s glory… …rise! Walk. Come on, son. Come on with it, son. Now God is gonna see you the rest of the way. He’s gonna see this little old man walk without the use of a crutch or a cane. He’s gonna see that you walk from faith and divine inspiration alone! Now walk. Come on. Don’t touch him. Rise up, old man. Rise up like Lazarus. I said, rise up! Yes. Come on! Say hallelujah.”
“Walk. Walk on. Yes. Praise be to God in the highest! Sweet Jesus! ♪ For he’s a jolly good fellow ♪ Queenie, you know I don’t like birthdays and I don’t like cake. I’ve been married five times. My fifth wife and I are captured by a neighbor tribe of cannibals. Goodness gracious. We escaped across the river. My wife, she can’t swim, so, sadly, she eaten. My second wife steps on cobra and dies. It was very bad luck to be married to me. The next summer… … I’m captured with three others by the Baschiele tribe. They trade us for pigs, shoes and beer to a very strange American man.”
“I hear you’re not so old as you’re looking. You’re just fooling everybody. What’s the matter? Did you get Madjembe? Worms. No, ma’am. Come, let’s get a cold root beer. Who said that? Come on, little man. Hello, children. Whoa! Hold, please. I am in the monkey house at Philadelphia Zoological Park. Three thousand people show up my first day. Look. It stinks. But… the monkeys. They do some tricks there. I throw a spear, wrestle with Kowali. She is orangutan. When I’m not playing with the monkeys, they want me to run to the bars in my cage, with my teeth… then? I leave zoo. Go here. Go there. Wandered most of the time. Plenty of time you’ll be alone.”
“When you’re different, like us, it’s gonna be that way. But I’ll tell you a little secret. Fat people, skinny people, tall people, white people, they’re just as alone as we are. But they’re scared shitless. I think about the river I grew up on. ‘Twould be nice to sit by my river again. Come, I have an appointment. There’s my little man. You ready, sugar? Always ready. Always ready. Filamena, Mr. Benjamin. Pleasure to meet you, sir. You can find your own way home, can’t you? Take the St. Charles line to Napoleon.”
“Well… Benjamin. Might I say you are looking strikingly youthful. A single cane, back straight as an arrow. What elixir have you been drinking? That was really something. Come on over here, you. Now, this is my granddaughter, Daisy. This is Mr… I’m afraid, Benjamin, I don’t rightly know your last name.”
“…health and food, for love and friends. For everything thy goodness sends. Amen. Amen. I love birds that can’t fly. They are so delicious. That’s terrible. ‘…in the afternoon, when he had got his beautiful hind legs just as Big God Nqong had promised. You can see that it is five o’clock because Big God Nqong’s clock says so.’ Isn’t that something? All right. But afterwards, you must go to bed. ‘Old Man Kangaroo…’ what are you doing under there? You come right out here and get back up to bed! It’s after midnight! You are not to be playing together. Now you get back to bed, little lady. You’re too young to be wandering around in the night on your own. And you oughta be ashamed of yourself.”
“Did I ever tell you I’ve been struck by lightning seven times? Once when I was repairing a leak on the roof. Once I was just crossing the road to get the mail. I’ve come to say goodbye. I’m going away. I haven’t figured that out yet, but I’ll send you a postcard when I get there.”
Thomas Button
“What are you doing here? What? That’s enough. All of you, get away from her. I came as quickly as I could. The streets are filled with people. Shh… Queenie!”
