I am a really big David Fincher fan. About the only movie I never really cared for was Zodiac. But I think the reason it never grabbed me because I was never very fond of movies that were set during the "dull" 70s. Otherwise films like Fight Club, Se7en, The Game and even Panic Room are on my list of films that are infinitely repeatable to watch.

This weekend my wife and I watched The Curious Case on Benjamin Button again. We saw the movie over Christmas 2008 in the theater and had to watch it again on video, it was that powerful of a film.

One of the things I really like about the movie is that there is no central antagonist figure. Every character in the movie has their flaws, but the real antagonist and what drives the story is time. Each of the characters are fighting time. Daisy and Benjamin are physically at different ends of the age spectrum. Elizabeth always thought she would have time to swim the English Channel. In 2005, Daisy is running out of time in a hospital bed. Caroline regrets not spending more time with her mother.

I also like how the movie has a central setting of an "old folks" home. The plot is always returning to the house in New Orleans, a house where there is constant change by death. There is so much change that Benjamin has a problem remembering the name of the woman who taught him how to play piano. His failure to remember the name of someone who had such significant impact on his life just feels genuine. How many times have you tried to remember someone you used to play with as a kid and just can't remember their first or last name. Yet every day for years they were a part of your life.

The deconstruction of the accident in Paris was also a fascinating part of the plot. The idea that just one little change in the course of events would have caused the accident not to happen resonated for me. Fate is a common theme in movies, but I like how it is executed in this movie. Again it is time becoming the antagonist.

Another bit of storytelling that I like in the film is that you never see Benjamin fight the perception that he is old. He has accepted the fact that people see him as elderly and incapable. Sometimes the audience doesn't have to be spoon fed information to feel the emotional impact of being segregated. It is elegant storytelling by design.

In typical Fincher style, the man who also got struck by lightning 7 times is great comic relief.

Benjamin Button is a great film. The best film of 2008 in my opinion. I give it 5 out of 5 stars. A new classic.