mind twister

Rating: 9/10 (3 June 2001)

Just saw this film, so I'm in the grip of trying to process it... give me a minute... Great film, reminded me of The Usual Suspects in the way that you had little to rely on to distinguish lies from truth.
**spoilers ahead**
Sorry, I've got to do this, 'cause I just can't not say something. Some reviews poo-poo the film because they say the ending is too neat or too gimmicky or whatever. I ask, what exactly does the ending tell us? Do we believe the supposed "truth" just because it comes at the end of the movie? Consider the source -- a slimeball who has lied to the main character in every single scene -- why do *we* believe him? Some of what he says is substantiated (the photo of Leonard) but do we believe everything? I think the truth and lies are meshed together so tightly that we can't unravel them any better than Leonard can. The next question is, has Leonard painted himself into a corner so that he has to stop? After all, every single one of his notes now points to John G, bad cop. He has a photo proof of his deed. Teddy can no longer use him for his own ends. What will he do next?
I gave this film a slightly lower rating than I did The Usual Suspects because you can imagine that you know what happened here (not like U.S., where nearly everything is related second hand, so you never know). Also, the "gimmick" at the end of U.S. was better, in my opinion.
In summary, it was very very good. Pearce, as usual, did a stellar job. Pantoliano (sp?) also as usual did a great job playing the smarmy nice/not nice guy who lives (or dies) by lying. Moss did a great job, which upon reflection, becomes an excellent job -- after all, *we* believed her (as Leonard did). It takes a slick actor to **spoiler** believably switch from hating a guy's guts for killing her boyfriend to feeling sorry for him and helping him.
Thanks go out to the makers of "Memento" for making a film that makes you think. There are precious few out there.