Jennifer Connelly plays a scientist who is recruited involuntarily by the government to figure out what is going on.  She has a step-son, played by Jaden Smith, confused and scared by all the activity.  He represents the future of humanity, and she represents the compassion.  So we’re not so bad after all.

This is pretty standard sci-fi.  Some good special effects, but for the most part predictable.

For the most part, the movie is straightforward – but there is one really good twist that took me by surprise.  And of course, we’re set up for the sequel at the end.

We start in a hospital room in New Orleans.  A dying old woman gives her daughter an old journal to read to her.  It’s the life story of Benjamin Button.  The movie goes back to this hospital room as the story progresses.

Baby Benjamin is abandoned by his father when his mother dies in childbirth.  But he finds a home in an old-folks home where he fits right in.  It’s an untraditional family, but he thrives, learns and grows.  It is here that he meets Daisy, the granddaughter of a resident.  She’s a young girl, and they immediately form a connection.  As Daisy gets older, and Benjamin gets younger, their lives come together for a short period of time. Cate Blanchett plays Daisy with much grace.  Daisy is a dancer, an artist who expresses herself unabashedly.  She’s curious, and drawn to this mysterious man she can’t possibly understand.

The movie is a little bit magical.  We have to suspend disbelief, and put ourselves in Benjamin’s world.  But the pace is slow, and the movie runs long – about 2 hours 45 minutes.

Beautifully filmed, written, and acted.

A convoluted story, gratuitous sex and violence, cliche villains, and not one hero in the mix – this movie is one big waste of time. I don’t want to waste any more of my time going over it in a review – just take my advice and skip this one.

The Butler is the true story of Cecil Gaines, a butler who worked in the White House through many presidencies.

We first meet Cecil as a child, picking cotton on a plantation with his parents. Although the civil war has won freedom for slaves, you’d never know it by the way the family and the other worker are so terribly abused. Cecil ends up working inside the home, coached by the plantation’s matriarch, and a new career is born.

Cecil as an adult is played by Forest Whitaker, who will surely get nominations for hit performance.  Cecil is a smart man, and he is able to parlay his experience into opportunities, and he ends up employed by the White House.

Oprah Winfrey plays Cecil’s wife Gloria.  She’s a marvelous actress, and we feel her pain as she suffers from loneliness, and struggles with her obligations as wife and mother during the tumultuous civil rights confrontations during this time in history.

Lee Daniels directs.  This is a fabulous movie – filled with rich history told through one remarkable man’s story.  Highly recommended.