Intriguing? Yes. Brilliant? Um...

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2001)

First of all, do yourself a favor and go see this film. Not because it's necessarily the greatest film ever made, but it's certainly much more intelligent and original and interesting than, say, Gladiator or that silly jiggle-giggle flick with Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love Hewitt. And then you can come back here and read everybody's comments and they will make more sense to you.
What follows is directed more at people who have already seen the film:
There is no question that Christopher Nolan is an exceptionally talented and intelligent filmmaker -- if nothing else, he sure is ambitious -- and we should all look forward to his next work. But whether you think this is a great film or simply an impressive technical exercise depends, I think, on how you react to the ending.
A structure like this demands an ending that knocks your socks off, and if that ending isn't there...
Either the ending will convince you and you will feel as if Nolan had intended to take you there all along; or it will not convince you, and you'll feel as if he's throwing up philosophical smoke and mirrors to cover up what is a less-than-dazzling conclusion. For me, it felt like the latter. I didn't buy it. It seemed like he started with the intriguing structure and the puzzle and then used some philosophical scotch tape to try to keep the whole thing together.
Yes, memory can be unreliable, but not quite to the extent that it is for Guy Pearce's character or anyone in real life who suffers from that kind of extreme mental condition. Ultimately, Memento is not a film that makes you think about life; it's a film that makes you think about the film. Not that there's anything wrong with that. In fact, it's an excellent lesson for screenwriters and filmmakers everywhere that you can move a story backwards chronologically and still keep it moving forward dramatically.
I applaud Nolan's ambition and much of his execution. It's not one of the greatest films I've ever seen, but it's certainly one of the most interesting and impressive. And given that Nolan is already starting to work with the likes of Al Pacino, it's not hard to believe that someday, he could end up making one of the greatest films I've ever seen. Can't wait.