Benjamin Button's case turned out to be quite beautiful

“I was born under unusual circumstances.” And so begins “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards: a man, like any of us, who is unable to stop time. We follow his story, set in New Orleans from the end of World War I in 1918, into the 21st century, following his journey that is as unusual as any man’s life can be. The film tells a grand tale of a not-so-ordinary man and the people and places he discovers along the way, the loves he finds, the joys of life and the sadness of death, and what lasts beyond time.

There's no way to watch David Fincher's odd sentimental ode, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, without thinking of its cinematic cousin and spiritual ancestor, Forrest Gump. Like that Tom Hanks blockbuster, Benjamin Button deals with a good-hearted simpleton (Brad Pitt, in the title role) who journeys far and wide to discover overstated truisms about living and dying. Like Gump, Button's got a sweet-but-stern Southern mama (Taraji P. Henson), and an enduring love interest (Cate Blanchett) that accompanies him through the chapters of his life. The two films share a strange magic realism, stretching the bonds of credulity without caution. Most importantly, both films are shamelessly designed to tug the heartstrings of mainstream audiences, while simultaneously appearing highbrow enough to garner some year-end awards.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" represents a richly satisfying serving of deep-dish Hollywood storytelling. This odd, epic tale of a man who ages backwards is presented in an impeccable classical manner, every detail tended to with fastidious devotion. An example of the most advanced technology placed entirely at the service of story and character, this significant change-of-pace from director David Fincher poses some daunting marketing challenges, even with Brad Pitt atop the cast. Strong critical support will be needed to swell interest in this absorbing, even moving, but emotionally cool film, which is simultaneously accessible and distinctive enough to catch on with a large public. Using precious little of the story save the central aging conceit, Roth's version ranges from World War I into the 21st century and creatively uses New Orleans as its base, with sojourns to distant corners of the globe. Scripter could have chosen to make the central figure a more exceptional, active character -- a doer of great things, or an intellectual with an acute awareness of his unique condition. Instead, Benjamin is a passive sort to whom things happen, a trait by no means an impediment to audience involvement. Death pervades the film and Benjamin's life, but in a matter-of-fact, rather than depressing way; if you're raised among oldsters in a retirement home, death is never a stranger. Framing story is set in a modern hospital room, where the fading Daisy (a recognizable Cate Blanchett under heavy makeup) has her 40ish daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond) read to her from the diary of her late dear friend Benjamin. Benjamin is born of the armistice and is lovingly raised by a black attendant, Queenie (Henson), at the rest home. An establishment awash in the gentility of the Old South, the place is ideal for a child who, with his bald pate, cataracts, deficient hearing and need for a wheelchair, fits right in with the other occupants. When he's 12 and looks about 70, Benjamin meets a resident's lovely red-haired granddaughter, Daisy. Daisy will zig-zag in and out of his life from then on and eventually embody his emotional touchstone. With a solicitous stranger he doesn't know is actually his father (Jason Flemyng), as well as with an African pygmy (Rampai Mohadi), Benjamin gets a taste of the outside world, including the pleasures of the flesh at a bordello. He also befriends hard-drinking tugboat captain Mike (Jared Harris) and, in time-honored tradition for a young man, goes to sea. In one of the film's most bewitching interludes, Benjamin, who has begun to realize he's looking younger, has an affair in Murmansk with the sophisticated Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton), from whom he learns what it is to be loved and desired. Pic's action highlight is a startling nocturnal encounter between the tug and a Nazi U-boat that has just sunk a troop transport. Safely back in New Orleans after the war, Benjamin becomes reacquainted with Daisy, now a rising dancer and unashamed sensualist who comes on a little strong for her old friend. But after his father dies, leaving him his button factory and entire estate, Benjamin follows Daisy to New York, where he sees her dancing the ballet in "Carousel," then to Paris, only to continue being rejected by the headstrong young woman even after she suffers a terrible tragedy detailed in a suspense montage that by itself reps a dazzling display of directorial savoir faire. Much of the film's romantic and philosophical posture hinges on Benjamin and Daisy getting together at the right time, and they do so in an entirely satisfying way; by the time of consummation, with Brad Pitt now in full physical glory and Blanchett at her womanly peak, they -- and the audience -- are more than ready for it. But their passion is all the more pointedly ephemeral due to the consciousness of being headed in opposite physical directions. The necessary acceptance of this fact produces a sincerely and genuinely earned sense of melancholy about the transitive nature of love and life. Complete with rich images and symbols, the features opening and closing symbolic sign, a huge clock. When the saga begins, daisy tells us that the clock was built by a craftsman named Monsiuer Devereux (Elias Koteas) as tribute to hi lost son, a WWI fighter. After that, Devereux simply disappeared, but not his creation, which decorates the glorious New Orleans train station. At the end of the journey, after hurricane Katrina hits hard, the last image in the movie is of the same clock, washed by water, crushed on the floor. Very well shot, wonderfully acted. An all around treat. This is one of my favorites of the year. A warm 5 on my "Go See" scale.