Ideas are interesting, but the execution is bad

Rating: 5/10 (28 January 2002)

Here's an idea. Write a movie that explores the idea of a pawn in society turning to anarchist ideals. Have the transformation happen in a unique setting. Take the idea to extremes. Throw in some unredeemed violence to give it that authentic gutter feel of anarchism.
Okay, now you have the plot of a pretty decent movie. Oh, wait, though. We should add a plot twist. Hmmmm, but the twist will cause some of our scenes to make no sense. Oh well, most of the movie is already printed, lets just finish it and call the loose ends artistic license.
The only problem is the twist pretty much ruins the movie. Oh sure, it makes you rethink the early parts, and adds a clever uncertainty to the original experience, but the twist just doesn't hold up. How can many of the earlier scenes be plausibly explained? The final scenes of the movie just let the air out of the whole plot (the twist didn't work in my mind, and the final sixty seconds made me think that the writers couldn't figure out how to finish off the movie).
Good acting by Ed Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. Brad Pitt has done this same character before in Twelve Monkeys.
Compare this movie to momento, however, and you'll find that momento manages to pack in a much more devilish twist that makes you rethink the whole experience and doesn't leave you saying "but hold on a second, how could that other scene have happened"?