I don't expect a sequel called "Memen... two" - my friend came up with that one!

Rating: 10/10 (19 April 2001)

At the heart of "Memento" is the question: What can you do with your life when you have no short-term memory? You have no ability to create new memories and every few minutes you start off fresh, having absolutely no idea what just occurred. Anything important that happens in your life will be quickly forgotten and practically non-existent. How can you live the rest of your life with any meaning or motivation?
This is the challenge that Leonard, the hero of "Memento," faces. He is played by Guy Pearce who starred in another small movie I recently discovered called "Ravenous," an unbelievably surprising flick that cleverly combined several movie genres with new spins. He has picked another great role to play here. Leonard lost his short-term memory when he tried to defend his wife from an attacker that invaded their home. She was killed and he was left with a scar for life, determined to find the killer and get revenge. The two other main characters he is in contact with are Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss). Both played in "The Matrix." Teddy seems suspicious, but who knows? Natalie seems all right, but can you really trust anyone? The paranoia and confusion are evident. Leonard trusts only the facts he has discovered himself. In order to remember them, he takes Polaroids, writes brief notes, and tattoos the really important stuff all over his body. It's insane. However, he has the motivation to make this system work and that is his quest to find his wife's killer.
The plot is not as important as how the film is made and how it involves us. The very first shot of the movie, played in reverse as a photograph disappears, is strikingly appealing. "Memento" itself is told backwards, not in reverse, but rather scene followed by a scene that logically precedes it and explains what we saw a few minutes ago. At the same time, another story is being told in black and white in chronological order, giving us something else to keep track of. Telling the story in reverse is such a simple plot device, but it is the key. By doing that, we have short-term memory as well and we see everything from Leonard's point of view. We don't know where we start out and we try to make sense of everything around us. It's not exactly like we have short-term memory, but we're just as confused as the main character.
"Memento" starts out at the end, and so we see the conclusion of everything that will eventually be revealed as the movie proceeds. How can this movie end in an interesting way then? Trust me it does. By telling it in reverse, the movie requires us to pay attention and makes each scene important and involving even though we get further away from the actual outcome. There are some great moments. At one point, Leonard snaps in and sees a bottle of some alcohol in his hand, but says that he doesn't feel drunk. What's going on then? Later (or earlier), he forgets what is going on in the middle of a foot-chase. He first thinks that he is chasing a guy, but when the guy turns around and starts shooting at him, he calmly corrects himself and starts running.
I've seen stories told backwards before in episodes of Seinfeld and the X-Files. Seinfeld was clever, but that's all that was to the story since it was not very funny. The X-Files episode was actually much better, but the only reason that was done was so that the character could go back and get a second chance to correct a wrong. Interesting, but corny. "Memento" is ingenious and dark; a film-noir told in reverse. My friends thanked me for dragging them out to see this movie. There's not much beyond the plot and the style and in a way, the style detracts from us becoming too emotionally involved with the characters and the story. We're too busy juggling everything else. I didn't like that, but that's the point. It's new, it's interesting, it's clever, and it's edited seamlessly for an exciting two hours. The bottom line is that Leonard knows his life is messed-up, but he's just trying to do something about it. An excellent movie. I give it a perfect 10.