Almost

Rating: Null/10 (30 January 2002)

WARNING: SPOILERS INSIDE!
Memento is a wonderfully structured and brilliantly executed motion picture, a thought-provoking masterpiece, and one of the most imaginative films of all time.
Almost.
The less than perfect finish tarnishes the whole product. And it's not the wrapping up of the story that is weak, it's the way it is executed that contradicts all the film's cinematic highlights that came before. It is one of the most fundamental errors in filmmaking, and therefore all the more prominent: Exposition through dialogue.
The whole denoument is two monologues, one by 'Terry' and one in voice-over by Leonard, the main character. Why? Was there no other way to expose the ending? The filmmaker exposes his filmic craftsmanship regularly in this picture, then seems to have used it all up when he got to the ending. Such a shame, because now the film brings a strong feeling of 'what it might have been'. And this review would have ended with the first paragraph.
With that out of the way, we are still left with a very good film. The juxtaposition of past, present and future is brilliantly conceived and executed. This is not the sort of film that can be used as 'background noise', attention is necessary at all times. But when attention is paid, the complex structure is easy to follow, and therefore all the more rewarding.
The same brilliance that brought the structure itself to fruition, surfaces in particular scenes. Stand out is Carrie-Anne Moss' devilish character exploiting the main charachter's weakness with a ferocity and cunning that makes the blood run colder than many a horror movie ever can. This scene by itself almost redeems the flawed ending.
Almost.