Story:
Leonard Shelby wears expensive, tailored suits, drives a late model Jaguar sedan, but lives in cheap, anonymous motels, paying his way with thick wads of cash. Although he looks like a successful businessman, his only work is the pursuit of vengeance: tracking and punishing the man who raped and murdered his wife. His suspicions dismissed by the police, Leonard's life has become an all-consuming quest for justice.

The difficulty, however, of locating his wife's killer is compounded by the fact that Leonard suffers from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his "accident," Leonard can't remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he is, where he's going, or why.

Review:
Memento is a great film both in terms of its story as well as its construction. The entire movie is laid out backwards ie. The last part of the story is the first scene you see. There was a Seinfield episode like this a few years back but as opposed to just being a gimmick, in Memento it is a great way of helping the viewer understand the plight of the main character, Leonard Shelby (played by Guy Pearce). Leonard has lost the ability to make new memories since the rape and murder of his wife. He can remember everything up to that point, but has not been able remember anything new after that. He keeps track of what he has done and what he wants to do by writing himself extensive notes, taking polaroids, and getting tatoos of particularly important information.

I found that the film started out as hard to follow. This is the tendency in any non-linear form of story telling, but Memento is particularly difficult due to the amount of characters and sheer volume of information that you are trying to absorb. One thing that helps to lessen the confusion is an extended phone conversation Leonard is having with an unknown caller intercut throughout the main story. It is used as a form of interior monologue, and is the most elegant method of doing it I have ever seen. As I got deeper and deeper into the film, I gradually came to understand everything that I didn't get when I first saw it. After the phenomenal ending, I was truly in awe of how well everything came together just how powerful a film it was.

Summary:
Memento is an amazing movie that I think anyone with an interest in film should see. The writing and direction of Christopher Nolan are top notch in all respects. The acting of Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss (Natalie), and Joe Pantoliano (Teddy) is also very good; while maybe not Oscar level, their performances are more than adequate for the roles. All in all, Memento is one of the best movie I've seen this year.

Score:
» 4.5/5

Links:
» Official Site
» Trailer