I just watched David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Ben­jamin Button”. Before I say any­thing else, I have to acknowl­edge that it is a beau­tiful movie. The cin­e­matog­raphy is out­standing. The movie also stands out in my mind for how well light was used in the design of the scenes. After having recently seen “Milk”, which was very poorly shot despite being an excel­lent movie, “Button” clearly stands apart and makes me appre­ciate how much light and shadow play a part in the design of a movie.

I know reviews of this movie were some­what mixed when it came out. While I think everyone agreed that the movie is a beauty to watch, there was less agree­ment about the quality of it’s sub­stance. This is not a com­pli­cated movie. I sup­pose some might con­sider it the­mat­i­cally “heavy-handed”. I think I appre­ciate how chal­lenging it must be to make a suc­cessful movie about dying. At least, that’s my first impression.

Maybe it’s not about death as much as it is about tran­sience. This idea is repeated throughout. How is it that we deal with the mor­tality – not only of lives but also of moments and oppor­tu­ni­ties? The expe­ri­ences of our lives are col­ored by how we accept, reject, ignore or embrace this reality.

These are not rad­ical themes. Many sto­ries have tackled this idea. What I love about this movie is not it’s nov­elty or orig­i­nality. In sto­ries we can escape into other worlds, but what we find in those places is only what we carry with us. What I find in this movie is a moment to reflect and appre­ciate the tem­po­rary joys of my own life and realize (again) that I’ve been very for­tu­nate. For that I am, as always, grateful.