The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

As Hurricane Katrina bears down on New Orleans in 2005, daughter Caroline (Ormond) reads from her mother Daisy's (Blanchett) book as she lay dying, not realizing it's the story of Daisy's life, and of Benjamin Button (Pitt)--a man who was born a wrinkly-skinned senior citizen who goes through life aging backwards. Raised by Queenie (Henson) after being abandoned as a newborn by his father Thomas (Flemyng) in 1918, Benjamin sees the other old-timers who surround him at the old folks' home where his adoptive mother works pass on while he becomes more virile. While many adventures ensue, the focus is on Daisy and Benjamin's relationship, which begins while both are "young" (with Fanning as Daisy), even though Benjamin looks old and their friendship inappropriate but later blossoms when the pair meet in their prime. Loosely taken from F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 fantasy short story of the same name, the lead actors are golden in this endearing, though lengthy, tale.