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Tissues and 'Buttons'

Here's the truth: I cried twice during " The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ." I've only cried during three other movies in my life: "Rudy," "The Green Mile" and "Weekend at Bernies II." (But I had my own issues going on during that last movie.)

I think that's a compliment for a movie, right? If you're bawling during a flick, it must have done something to draw you in and shatter what little ability you have to hold those tears back. The bad thing is that, every time you cry, you're suddenly reminded about all those other times you cried in life. So while a dreamy Brad Pitt is cruising on a motorcycle adorned in leather with the wind whipping his glowing locks, I'm also thinking about spilled milk, my grandfather's funeral and that time I got busted with my sister's Barbie dolls.

Tears aside, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is my favorite movie of the year. The story of a backward-aging man and all his little adventures tracing through the 20th century is ridiculously compelling. Credit strong source material: A short story penned by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the 1920s. Add spot-on performances by Pitt, who plays Button, as well as Cate Blanchett , who plays the ballerina who captures his heart.   And finally, David Fincher's direction is 180 degrees from his previous collaborations with Pitt – "Se7en" and "Fight Club." The usually macabre moviemaker deftly creates a poignant and meloncaly tale without sociopathic undertones this time around.

We meet Benjamin when he's an 80-year-old infant, when his dad abandons him after noticing the little fella looks like E.T. after hanging out in a tepid pool for 48 hours. Benjamin is taken in by an old folks home, where he blends until his pruniness and geriatric ailments start to magically disappear, and he's ready to take the world by storm. Along the way, he falls in and out with Daisy (Blanchett), who's off having her own adventures in the big city.

Here the movie closely parallels "Forrest Gump," only it's much better than that hacky, overrated, feel-good flick. And it makes sense, as both "Benjamin Button" and "Forrest Gump" were crafted by screenwriter Eric Roth. Both Gump and Button work on a boat, go to war, have awkward courtships with buddies-turned-lovers, and that's all I'm going to give away. But you would much rather have a beer with Button than Gump. Button would listen to you, regale you with his own lyrical tales of whimsy, and have you keep guessing his age – always a fun game! Gump would just tell you stupid ping pong platitudes and offer you awful pieces of chocolate.

It's easy to guess where "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" ends up. I mean, an 80-year-old baby turns into…what? But it's how the movie gets there that's so damn good. Sure, at nearly three hours, Fincher & Co. take their time with the meandering plot. But every scene is so picture perfect that I can't name anything that should be chopped.

By the end of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," you'll be contemplating your own age and mortality, whether you're 18 or 81. Soon you'll be eating fruit smoothies for dinner, stalking Jack LaLanne and buying calendars from the '80s. But heck, if Cher couldn't even turn back time, then who are we to try?

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," rated PG-13 and running 159 minutes, is now playing nationwide.

Mike Ward is a Richmond-based writer and editor. Check him out at www.underdogcopy.com .