When this film was over (saw it on a late show on Christmas Day), I knew I had just experienced one of the most powerful cinematic masterpieces of my life. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is quite possibly my favourite film of the last 5 years (not since Sofia Coppola's "Lost In Translation" a contemporary film had moved me so much). I had high expectations for it, and they were way surpassed (fact: after "Se7en", "Fight Club" and this, nobody will deny David Fincher and Brad Pitt make great films together).<br /><br />"Benjamin Button" is the story of a man who ages backwards. Played and narrated by Brad Pitt, BB is the epic account of this extraordinary life, with focus on all the special women that were part of it (Taraji P. Henson as the mother, Cate Blanchett as the love interest and Tilda Swinton as a married woman he has an affair with). As a humorous, romantic, melancholic and visually stunning tale of a sweet-natured man who's different from most people, the film reminds me of "Forrest Gump" (which was also adapted to the screen by Eric Roth), but it is even more groundbreaking. It's hard to see a film that has it all, but TCCOBB is one of those. It's like a great epic from Hollywood's Golden Age, when a good story was as important as the magnificent sets (the art direction, cinematography and make-up are all fantastic, by the way, as is Alexandre Desplat's musical score) that populated them – something very rare today, when CGI dominates most movies. <br /><br />We had a few great films this year – from the king of blockbusters (Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight") to a compelling biopic (Gus Van Sant's "MILK") to brilliant indies like Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire", Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky", Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York", Thomas McCarthy's "The Visitor", Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River", Tomas Alfredson's "Let The Right One In" and Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married", but I doubt I will see anything as good as David Fincher's masterpiece so soon. In other words, an instant classic (there, I said it). 10/10.