Like life on rewind, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" takes kismet in a different direction but finds it all plays out the same in the end.

The story opens in a New Orleans hospital room in late August 2005, not long before Hurricane Katrina makes landfall. On her deathbed is 80-year-old Daisy (Cate Blanchett), attended by her daughter, Caroline (Julia Ormond). As instructed by Daisy, Caroline begins reading aloud the diary of a man named Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), whose path through life frequently crossed with her mother’s own life.

From here, the movie jumps frequently between biographical flashbacks and present-day revelations. I found the present-day drama contrived to the point of feeling annoyed every time they interrupted the main storyline with this peripheral hokum.

The real story begins in 1918 with a backwards clock and the birth of Benjamin, a baby with the physiology of an 85-year-old man. Benjamin’s mother died during childbirth, leaving his horrified father, Thomas Button (Jason Flemyng), who is unable to cope with his son’s strange appearance.

Thomas leaves Benjamin on the doorstep of Queenie (Taraji P. Henson), who raises the boy as her own, where he grows younger with each passing year. Queenie helps run a retirement home, so Benjamin fits right in with the other residents. The film spends the entire first act in this comfortable setting, during the young man’s golden years. This reverse take on childhood has some fun with cosmic irony.

As Benjamin grows younger, he leaves the nest for adventures as a sailor, clandestine affairs and reunions with lost loves. Because his journey takes him in the opposite direction, Benjamin is forced to watch everyone he loves eventually pass away.

Though far from original, I found the fantasy premise intriguing in a Zen-like circle-of-life kind of way. Any movie that quotes Edgar Cayce certainly has something to say. What bugs me, however, is how a film with such ethereal potential can come across so cold and distant. The big scenes are there, but the impact is negligible.

With only few exceptions late in the film, Pitt appears heavily made up at the very least and CGI-implanted into small, fragile bodies the rest of the time. The effect is as seamless as it is odd.

The movie was adapted by Eric Roth ("Munich," "The Good Shepherd") and Robin Swicord ("Memoirs of a Geisha") from a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Beyond the title and basic premise, however, the two tales have little in common.

Instead, crucial elements of this film more closely resemble Roth’s Oscar-winning screenplay for "Forrest Gump." Both feature ordinary men steered by destiny to live interesting lives. Both characters grew up in the Deep South, with a strong mother who helped them overcome unique challenges. There are also childhood sweethearts, the ravages of war and changing social scenes. Both wield fate as a powerful narrative tool, though not as equally effective.

What’s missing from Benjamin is Forrest’s many "box of chocolates" moments. There are plenty of touching scenes but nothing as overwhelmingly emotional as Gump. There’s no big flash of indescribable truth, no passionate epiphany to take our breath away.

Despite the film’s muted emotional impact, I loved the artistic vision of director David Fincher ("Fight Club," "Se7en"). His attention to period details is fantastic, and I loved the use of simulated old film stock and unique post-production colorization. Though for the most part deadly earnest, the film has fun with a running gag about a man struck by lightning seven times.

Although the film itself seems ambivalent to its own course and destination, there’s a lot to enjoy in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

the curious case of Benjamin button

Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond

Director: David Fincher

Rating: PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking.

Theaters: Stadium 14, Forum 8

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