The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Pitch: Brad Pitt stars as a man who is born old and ages backwards, only meeting briefly in the middle with his soul mate Daisy.

The High Points: There are no weak links in the cast, with especially good performances from Taraji P. Henson and Jason Flemyng. Naturally, Pitt and Blanchett are outstanding. Fincher's meticulous attention to detail is unerring, down to the light fixtures.

The Low Points: It's long – really long. But there's no way around it; the stunning second half isn't possible without the setup of the first. The makeup and CGI for Brad Pitt as an old/young man is somewhat distracting. Benjamin is just a little bit Forrest Gump-y, perhaps because the screenplay was written by Gump scribe Eric Roth.

PS: Bring a hanky. The tears will start falling down your face within minutes, if not sooner.