Some films are best forgotten.

Rating: 7/10 (22 January 2003)

For some reason, and I can never work out why, some films just seem to cast a veil over the viewers' eyes. Take the Sixth Sense, a distinctly mediocre film, with a tenuous and inconsistent twist thrown in at the end, and resultantly worshiped with an astonishingly devout following. Sadly, I must make the same comment about this supposed "modern classic". Yes, the film goes backwards - but rather than being the stylish and clever representation of the lead character's memory recollection, this stands out as a cheap trick that ultimately masks a simple and rather stale plot that would never come off in a film shot in the conventional fashion. While I cannot discredit Christopher Nolan for using such a cheap trick, since it has worked so effectively, I find it disappointing that gimmicks still equal box office success and acclaim.
So what would be so bad about "Memento" if it ran in a simple and straightforward order? Well, for a start, the acting is distinctly mediocre, with every single character seemingly exuding as little charisma as possible. Guy Pearce plays a fairly straight lead role, in a film which probably afforded more acting than Pearce provided, however his performance is passable, but not particularly laudable. Carrie-Anne Moss displays a similar mediocre style, with little really to draw the viewer in. For me, Joe Pantoliano's character provides the only real intrigue, seeming a bit of an enigma, as the viewer puzzles over what the truth really is, con-man or comrade?
There can be no doubt "Memento"'s concept is absolutely superb, but it is the execution which holds the most serious problem for the film. The lead character's life holds little interest, and when the alleged truth is finally unveiled, it left me amazingly under whelmed. Essentially, a story that could be explained in a sentence, is dragged out to 113 minutes. While many seem to believe that the plot itself is what "messes with your head", it is transparent that the order change and fractionality is all that really perplexes the viewer, and left me feeling cheated out of a concept that could have been put to much better use. The memory loss idea is fairly consistently executed, and for this the film must be praised. Indeed, pulling off a man who can remember nothing must have been a real challenge for Pearce, however a bit more emotion would have been nice, and a little less of the suave!
It would be hard for me to entirely damn this movie, since the concept itself holds such intrigue. However, I find it hard to fully praise a film that owes its success to a singular idea. Yes, it's entertaining, but not nearly as good or as complicated as some would like you to believe. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if the normal order feature on the DVD release makes for far more boring viewing.
7/10 (on the value of the idea alone).