A smart, unique mystery thriller

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2014)

Leonard Shelby, (Guy Pearce), is a insurance investigator. He suffers from a condition that isn't short-term memory loss. Right before he lost his memory, his wife was killed by someone. He doesn't know who. But, he wants revenge. With the help of his memory condition and the notes tattooed on his arms, legs and body, Leonard is determined to figure out who killed his wife.
That's the set-up for Memento. This is a well made neo-noir thriller that plays with us by seeing through the eyes of a man who's determination only makes his investigation more superior. The movie is told through two story-lines. One story-line is told in black and white and the other is told in color. Director Christopher Nolan, who also serves as a screenwriter for this movie, challenges us to follow this mystery through two story-lines. The black and white scenes illustrates the story in chronological order. The color scenes takes place in reverse. As we watch this story unfold, Nolan reveals more and more of the mystery as he lets us get to know the facts before shifting gears.
Most thrillers today are jam-packed with predictable story-lines and endings. Memento is the complete opposite. This movie doesn't do any of those. Instead, what we have here is a complicated story about a complicated man. A man who's grief and guilt drives him through his investigation. That why Leonard is so important in this movie. Rather than showing us a straight-forward mystery with the clues being brought up in a linear story, Memento reveals clues from a non-linear story. This is the kind of movie that tells us a story that is based on a Hitchcockian level, but only in the 21st century. Without giving away too much of the ending, the conclusion is very effective in both wit and suspense.
The original story for this movie came from Christopher Nolan's younger brother, Johnathan. The movie is full of great performances by Guy Pearce and also from Joe Pantoliano. Pearce has been involved in the neo-noir genre before with L.A. Confidential. Unlike his role in that movie, Pearce brings out the grief in some of the movie's quiet scenes. There's are several moments during the movie where he lets us sympathizes with him while he copes with his condition. I thought that in those scenes, the movie stops short to shows us how Leonard feels about not remembering who he is and what he is. At that point, I felt pretty bad that he has to live with this condition and also solve his wife's murder.
I have seen good neo-noirs in my life. But, Memento is a rarity. You don't see movies like these being made everyday. As the audience, we are taken into the mind of a very confusing man. And when we learn about the facts, we sometimes feel as if we ourselves are spinning our heads because we can't keep up with this plot. That is what I like about movies. A lot of the great thrillers that we've seen over the years have made us think about ourselves as ordinary everyday people. It's movies like Memento that makes us think differently with ourselves so that we are caught up at the moment. This is a top-notch thriller that really deserves credibility for its story structure and the editing. This is a must-see. ★★★★ 4 stars.