Memorable doesn't always equal great

Rating: 7/10 (4 December 2003)

Many movie lovers call this a 21st-century return to film noir, and I guess it is. It's a clever, even admirable film in the way it is constructed. Pardon me for not enjoying it more.
Guy Pearce stars as Leonard (don't call him Lenny) Shelby, a fellow hot on the trail of his wife's killer...if only he can remember more than five minutes ago. It's an intriguing concept, to what extent personality and identity are beholden to the brain's ability to make new memories, and you have to give mad props to the filmmakers for dreaming this one up, only they didn't bother to create any sympathetic characters for their drama, or a story worth caring about beyond the novel "story-backwards-through-unfolding-plotting" means of narration. You have to watch the movie more than once, perhaps several times, before you begin to realize what happened. But when you do, it feels like a cheat, because without the gimmick of the constant memory-lapses, the story itself isn't the sort that would hold you very long.
All the acting in this film is quite good, in a soulless '90s way. Pearce seems to have borrowed some voice inflections from `L.A. Confidential' co-star Kevin Spacey. He makes for a good anti-hero in many ways, playing his emotions down rather than up, a good choice that makes him a more compelling cypher. His short-term memory loss doesn't seem to have affected his workout regimen, however, nor his hair-treatment routine. But you shouldn't try penalizing movies for small logic lapses, if the movie makes you think hard enough about it after for you to figure out those lapses.
The always superb Joe Pantoliano is especially interesting as Teddy Gammell, a sort of helpful or not character who may or may not be a cop, and knows something about the man who killed Lenny's wife, or else maybe killed her himself. He's amusing, anyway, though not always comprehendible in his motives, either before or after you've seen it a few times. Still, a plus. So is Matrix hottie Carrie-Anne Moss, another possible helper or bad guy. Like Gammell, her character Natalie is no easy read, even after repeat viewings, and much of the fun in watching `Momento' again is trying to guess at what's going on inside her head in a given moment. She should keep the sunglasses on, though. Those cold pale blues of hers give me the creeps.
A lot to give away here, and I won't do it, even if the backwards-narrative makes such reticence impossible in reviewing the movie. The film plays off so many angles so well you can't help but admire the ride, or not want to spoil it, however much you may or may not actually enjoy it. Suffice to say it's as clever as everyone tells you, but you may not come away liking the bottom-line story as much as you thought. The mystery is hardly that involving (think "Law And Order Special Victims Unit" if you were watching it on drugs), the characters interesting but nobody you'd care enough to light a ciggie for let alone spend time with, and the final resolution as nihilistic as anything outside a Beckett play.
"Memory's not perfect," Leonard notes. "It's not even that good." Especially his, though he still seems able to spring a few traps. If only I cared more about them, or him. Good last line, though, one of the best, right up there with "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" and "Tomorrow is another day." (Which isn't far off point, come to think of it.)
Yes it's very good. No, it's not great. It's not in my top 200, let alone top 20. But if you meet Natalie at the bar, be sure not to tell her Jimmy Grantz sent you.