Pitt's next appearance was in the 2008 black comedy "Burn After Reading", his first collaboration with the Coen brothers. The film received a positive reception from critics, with "The Guardian" calling it "a tightly wound, slickly plotted spy comedy", noting that Pitt's performance was one of the funniest. He was later cast as Benjamin Button, the lead in David Fincher's 2008 film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", a loosely adapted version of a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story follows a man who is born an octogenarian and ages in reverse, with Pitt's "sensitive" performance making "Benjamin Button" a "timeless masterpiece", according to Michael Sragow of "The Baltimore Sun". The performance earned Pitt his first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, as well as a fourth Golden Globe and second Academy Award nomination, all in the category for Best Actor. The film received thirteen Academy Award nominations, and grossed $329 million at the box office worldwide.