Loved the film, only saw a couple of problems

Rating: 10/10 (15 April 2001)

This movie was wildly unique and thus quite difficult to discuss. The way in which the story was told really messed with traditional concepts of time, storytelling and memory.
One standout feature was the way in which a scene was played out more than once. At first you'd be shown the scene in the middle of it, time would go forward to the 'conclusion' of the scene. Then you'd backtrack to before the moment you first stepped in. A little more context was added and the scene was replayed just enough for you to catch the implications of the additional information given. Despite this backtracking and replaying it was never repetitive. There was never too much information.
The twists in it were just mindbending, and I'd read some of the spoilers. Nevertheless, watching the truth come out, backwards, was a completely engrossing and startling process.
And the end was perfect. One second more of film would've been too much. It ends, and you just sort of sit there stunned. You now have to recall the whole film from start to finish with the new knowledge, the truth that is finally revealed at the start of the story and the end of the movie.
There were two instances where the exposition seemed forced, more for the audience's benefit than because the scene actually warranted it. One instance where Leonard (the man with a 'photographic' memory as the sign outside the theatre said) seems to hold onto a memory longer than he should've been able. But three minor hiccups hardly undermine the entirety of the film.
Highly recommended. I'm going to see it again soon.