Query with array and showposts

Hello there,

I try to limit a query with showing only 5 posts.

It looks like that :

<?php
					$highlights_category = get_category( ot_get_option( 'highlights_category', '0' ) );
					if( !empty( $highlights_category ) ){
					    if (isset($highlights_category->slug)) {
    					    $highlights_category = $highlights_category->slug;
					    } else {
    					    $highlights_category = 'evenements';
					    }

					}else{
						$highlights_category = 'evenements';
					}
					$args = array(
						'posts_per_page' => 5,
						'category_name' => $highlights_category
					);
				?>
				<?php query_posts( '$args' ); // begin query ?>
					<?php //begin loop for highlights content ?>
					<?php if( have_posts() ){ ?>
						<?php while( have_posts() ){ ?>
							<?php the_post(); ?>

that doesn’t work (alwaays have many posts)
I tried ‘showposts’ => ‘5’, too, with the same result.

Thank your for your help !