Clever but Taxing

Rating: 6/10 (21 September 2001)

Christopher Nolan's modern-day noir concerns a man (Guy Pearce) trying to uncover his wife's killers while struggling with short-term memory loss. Since his hero is also the narrator, it's a tricky narrative; but Nolan complicates things even further by unfolding the story backwards. The result is clever but it's also taxing: your mind has to work harder than it necessarily should. Once the novelty wears off, there are plenty of dead spots and impatience sets in--you want to get to the beginning to get a feeling of completion. The result is like watching a big-screen version of `Columbo' where you know the killer at the onset and watch Peter Falk figure out whodunit and why. If that's your cup of tea, this is for you. Pearce is excellent, as usual; also starring is Joe Pantoliano (a pleasure) and an underused Carrie-Anne Moss.