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Marley & Me

*** ( 3 STARS)

$36.4

million

$50.7 million

1 week

Rated: PG

Running time: 120 minutes

What it's about: Based on the autobiographical book by newspaper columnist John Grogan, Marley & Me is about a newly married couple (including Jennifer Aniston, above) who adopt a puppy.

Our take: If you have experienced the redemptive joy of coming home from a hard day at work, only to be greeted by a dog who just knows you're the best thing in the world, then this is the movie you've been waiting for.

Bedtime Stories

* ( 1 STAR)

$27.5

million

$38.0 million

1 week

Rated: PG

Running time: 105 minutes

What it's about: Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler, above) discovers, while babysitting his niece and nephew, that elements of his made-up bedtime stories come true the next day.

Our take: If you look closely at Bedtime Stories, it is almost possible to see how the cast and crew were making up the movie as it went along. It's just a series of nonsensical events that at times are anchored by reality and at other times are pure fantasy.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

**** ( 4 STARS)

$26.9

million

$38.7 million

1 week

Rated: PG-13

Running time: 159 minutes

What it's about: In 1918, Benjamin Button (the never-better Brad Pitt, above) is born with an old face, dilapidated plumbing and wrinkled skin over an infant body. Then he ages backward.

Our take: Every chapter of Button's story brings a fresh air of discovery. And the movie's emotional completeness comes from a full comprehension not just of one man's life, but of the intersection of many lives over the course of the 20th century.

Valkyrie

** ( 2 STARS)

$21.0

million

$29.5 million

1 week

Rated: PG-13

Running time: 120 minutes

What it's about: The heroic attempts of a handful of German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler, bringing down the Nazi regime.

Our take: It sounds like sure-fire "what-if?" thriller material, and Tom Cruise (above) gives a game physical performance as the officer at the center of the plot. But his key moment of conscience occurs off-screen, and the director, Bryan Sin-ger, seems paralyzed by his subject's seriousness.

Yes Man

** ( 2 Stars)

$16.7

million

$49.8 million

2 weeks

Rated: PG-13