Not as good as Nowlan's "Following"

Rating: 1/10 (19 February 2004)

Before I even caught a whiff of the insane hype over "Memento" I saw a little film from an unknown director called "Following". I was very impressed with the editing scheme and direction of this tight little noir and hoped the director would gain success. It's too bad that success had to come from "Momento". This too plays with the arrangement of scenes, but in so simple a fashion that getting the trick was no challenge. It isn't a bad film, really, but it's not great either. I don't recall having any complaints about the performances. But the story and the way it is presented are not all that interesting. The gimmick of seeing the scenes in reverse order and the little carry-over at the end of each one felt like a running gag that had gone sour. The film is a one trick pony that was lucky enough to snag everyone's attention. If people looked closer they'd know that the movie behind the hype is actually fairly thin and shallow. I'd really like to see Chris Nowlan have a hit with a really good picture. This one just isn't as good as "Following", but it is better than "Insomnia".