Good, but not great (***Spoilers below***)

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2001)

In general, I liked this movie. The idea of a continually lapsing short-term memory was a good one, and I'm surprised it hasn't been explored to this extent before. I also thought the acting was good, although beyond Leonard, the characters were really one-dimensional. The sequencing was actually done quite well, considering the challenge of showing the plot backwards, and what I thought would be utterly confusing turned out to be quite exciting.
Despite the novelty and cleverness of the writing, the movie does have a few major problems. First, a person with total short-term memory loss would not be able to remember that he or she has such a condition in the first place. I was happy to see that another reviewer pointed this out. Unless Leonard had a tattoo explaining his injury and all of the circumstances (to which he referred constantly), it seems like he would always reset and end up believing he was at that very moment after his wife was "killed".
Second, the end of the movie was really more confusing than elucidating, and did very little to help the plot. I understand that this was the producers' intent (to leave us with a feeling of uncertainty about Leonard's life, since that is what he faces throughout the film), but I think it could have been written much better. I like to leave a movie with a feeling of satisfaction that I understood what the producer(s) wanted, whether it be resolution or purposeful uncertainty. In this case, I still don't know if it the confusion was written in the script, or was just a mistake.
Third, the movie hinted at some philosophical purpose, but never really got to that point. Rather than examining what makes us human and whether our memories are actually our identity, the writers used the loss of memory as a novel storytelling tool. I disagree with those reviewers who claim this was some great philosophical work of art--it may have made you think about it, but offered very little to the debate.
Last on my list of complaints are the loose ends. What happened to the woman? Why wasn't anyone chasing Leonard (besides Teddy) if he was a murderer and had a bunch of money? Why didn't anyone from his old insurance firm ever talk to him?
Overall, this was a fun film, and there were many little nuances that made it very interesting. I really don't care if the IMDB reviewers give it a 10--that's up to them. I would recommend this movie to anyone, though, because it is captivating and done quite well.