Prepare yourself for nothing like you've ever seen before

Rating: Null/10 (14 January 2007)

Memento is an estranged trip through the experiences of a man incapable of retaining short term memories, & desperate to attain justice in the form of murder, though dependent on the honesty of those around him, & his own personal systematic chronicling of people, places & events, though photos, journal entries, tattoos & data collecting.
The film's distinctive format is masterful, & moves in the only way possible, such that the audience will identify with the main character, who's disjointed perception of reality would make it impossible otherwise. Each scene, with the exception of the chronologically running black & white flashbacks, is followed by a scene containing preceding events, that essentially force the viewer to witness the course of events backwards. This technique keeps the audience as clueless to the truth of the elusively mysterious events, as the main character, Leonard Shelby, himself, thus giving the viewer a common bond with him.
There is not one thing about this film I did not find excellent, to the point of perfection. The direction is meticulous, the acting is exemplary, the story is powerful, & the dialog is captivating. Not being a film maker, myself, the editing of this piece left me in awe, as to how someone could retain this vision in their mind throughout the production. It is obvious that the exercise of memory is something which the director, Chris Nolan (Batman Returns, Insomnia) has mastered.
The performance from Guy Pearce, which I believe to be his best, manages to be paranoid, vulnerable, frigidly logical, uncomfortably emotional at times, & explosively dangerous, all at once, while he deals with the conspicuous characters around him. Joe Pantoliano successfully exudes sarcasm, empathy, humor, & untrustworthiness, as Lenny's bizarrely ongoing acquaintance, & Carrie-Ann Moss turns in a well fit performance as a woman involved in this disturbing scenario, with motives of her own, & who is searching for answers herself, in this entangled affair.
The ending of this film is predictable in one way, as was intended, but wholly unpredictable in others, as the mystery unravels, & leaves the viewer questioning everything & everyone that they have been watching. This film is not for everyone, as it requires a great deal of concentration, abstract thinking, & possibly repeated viewings, to grasp every detail. I've seen it countless times, & even went to the extreme of watching the scenes in reverse order on my DVD player, in order to have even another take on the events.
Each time I watch it, it has been rewarding. I rate it at a 9.5 out of 10