The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells the fairy-tale story of a child born as an old man who ages backwards. The film is based on a 1922 short story by celebrated American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. What better way to explore life, death, and aging than to place your main character in a world where everyone else is going the other direction? In 1998, screenwriter Robin Swicord penned an adaptation of Fitzgerald's story. After passing through several hands, a draft by Eric Roth was eventually filmed, with David Fincher directing.

Any story that follows a character through every stage of life is going to be epic in scope, and the film is no different. It is finely made. The cinematography by Claudio Miranda captures post-World War II New Orleans in grand fashion. The production used a camera system called Contour, recently developed by former Apple engineer Steve Perlman, which records actors' faces digitally, allowing for more dramatic manipulation.

Brad Pitt is at his sober best as Benjamin, at odds with a world that is zooming by faster than he can understand it all. Cate Blanchett plays Daisy, who meets Benjamin as a young girl. As she grows, she pursues a career as a dancer. Although elusive, Daisy is Benjamin's soul mate, and their time together, punctuated by months and years of individual adventure, is intense and poignant as one grows old and the other grows young.

"We are all children in the eyes of God," says a preacher, as he calls on Benjamin to step out of his wheel chair and walk near the beginning of the film. As Benjamin's voice narrates the scene, he refers to Job 1:21: "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away." Queenie (Taraji Henson), the African-American woman who finds Benjamin abandoned and takes him in, constantly refers to God and her faith and the power of prayer. She calls Benjamin "a miracle."

Yet, for all that is said in the film about God and spirituality, Benjamin never seems to develop a meaningful relationship with God himself. Having no mother or father to closely guide him, he walks through life on a whim, making impulsive choices that include a visit to a brothel where he loses his virginity, and later, an affair with a married woman (Tilda Swinton). He never marries Daisy, his life-long love, although they have a child together and live together for a few fleeting years. One has to wonder how his life may have been differently lived had he been properly introduced to his Creator.

When the drama gets heavy, welcome comedic moments happens, and these are evenly spaced out throughout the picture. There's the naked old major putting up his American flag at dawn, a woman attempting to sing Wagner, a man who details the times he's been hit by lightning, and even a fart on the porch. Flatulation will always make us laugh.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is rated PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language, and smoking. It seems these days you are guaranteed to hear the f-word in PG-13 movies. The sexual content includes a scene at the brothel and numerous sexual references by Captain Mike (Jared Harris), Benjamin's employer at sea. I would recommend discretion on the part of parents of younger teenagers. Just because the MPAA says it is okay for age thirteen and up doesn't make it so. Once something is seen on the big screen, it can't be unseen.

(For a glaring case-in-point, consider Jim Carrey's latest offering, Yes Man. Rated PG-13, the film contains one of the crudest scenes I think I've ever seen in a movie of that rating. Jim Carrey's character, because he can't say no to anything, accepts a gray-haired old lady's brazen offer of oral sex in return for some help putting shelves up. The thought, the image, is offensive enough, but the scene does not stop there. Once again, parents: learn about the movies your children think they want to see. Don't let mass marketing erode your child's purity.)

"Our lives are defined by opportunities&ellips; even the ones we miss," says Benjamin. He certainly pursues many opportunities, from fighting at sea during the second world war to traveling to exotic lands and cultures, steeping himself in new and unforgettable experiences. As we watch Benjamin travel through life, we get ample opportunity to think of ourselves.

Are we using our time wisely? Do we know God's purpose for our lives? Are we letting life happen to us, or are we happening to life? Movies that help us ask these questions of ourselves are, for me, movies that deserve to be made and deserve to be watched.