(Spoiler warning, kinda...this won't make any sense unless you've seen the movie!)

This version of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" begins with Daisy's daughter. Her mother has passed away and she is en route from a big city to her mother's funeral back in the south. We see her driving her sedan in the rain talking on her cell phone. She reassures her boss that she can be back in a week (she's a workaholic). She talks with a friend (never seen), explaining that some of her late mother's items have been sent to her. We see her in a hotel room and she finally gives in to curiosity and opens the box of belongings.

There's the diary. Brad Pitt can do the voice over when she's reading from the diary...we see all about the interesting story of his life. We see no humming birds apart from the tattoo on Captain Mike.

We can see the daughter continuing her trip to the funeral as she simultaneously becomes engrossed in the tale told in the diary and accompanying documents (photos, postcards...) She remembers seeing Benjamin when he returned after many years (we never see where he went) and she begins to wonder if this fanciful story could be true.

Now, when Benjamin becomes too young of body, too old of mind, Daisy begins to document the events in his diary where he left off. Cate Blanchett does the voice over for that part.

The diary ends and the daughter is completely distraught, overwhelmed by the possibility that this man was her father, that her mother is gone, and that she will never know the truth. She attends the funeral and her mother's attorney hands her a letter that had been found in Daisy's home. It's actually two letters: one from Benjamin and one from Daisy. We are all brought to tears by the uplifting spirit of the letters and that's our feel-good-enough ending.

This version should shave off at least 40 minutes, possibly an hour. It also makes the story a little darker, and more mysterious. Yes, and less Forrest Gump. Thank you and goodnight.