thinking man's movie

Rating: Null/10 (23 June 2001)

Christopher Nolan's "Memento" (Guy Pearce, Joe Pantoliano, Carrie-Anne Moss, Stephen Tobolowsky) is definitely a thinking man's movie. A guy with no short-term memory is trying to solve his wife's murder. But how does he remember the clues he uncovers? By taking copious notes and photos, and tattooing the really important stuff onto his body. In order for the audience to share in his feeling of never knowing what just happened in the recent past, the story is told in reverse; that is, short, five-minute or so chunks of normal time are told in backward order so you only know what IS going on, not what just DID go on a few minutes ago. The gimmick works well and the movie is a lot of fun in an intellectual sort of way. You can search for deeper meanings if you want to (i.e., don't we all just live in the present?) but it's fun if you do or not. Some good unexpected humor, too.