Just throw the doughnut away.

Rating: 2/10 (6 December 2008)

Let me get it out of the way and say that I am a thriller buff. I'm not one of the countless reviewers on this site who watched Memento and didn't understand itI understood the plot perfectlyand I am certainly not one of the countless reviewers who gave this a negative score because they see it as poor cinema. I don't have a pretentious bone in my body.
I am writing a negative review of Memento solely because it's exactly like everything I've seen before, and that's something not many people complain about.
The main problem I have with the thriller genre is that it repeats itself, in the same way the sci-fi genre repeats itself. When thriller films don't outright copy one another, they always seem to think if they can find some new, original plot they're going to be groundbreaking. The only problem with that last statement is that most thrillers with "new, original" plot-lines still simply have the exact same things happening on screen as all the others. The whole wife-is-murdered-I-must-avenger-her plot. Car chases. People talking about the plot. Intense confirmation between bad guy and good guy. You know the drill.
While Memento tries very hard to avoid those obvious things, and in the end it somewhat does, it's still nothing you haven't seen before. It plays out exactly like every other thrilleravenge-wife, gather info, kill guy who did itand ends exactly like every other thrillerreversal of expectations. Some of the plot details may be a bit fresh, but when you see the same things that you've seen in every other thriller, who really cares? Memento uses the common mistake thriller writers and directors both make: watching a whole typical movie just to get to the less-typical ending is just boring and forgettable. There is no entertainment value in it. It's the same exact mistake The Usual Suspects made. It's like trying to force yourself to eat a stale long john doughnut just to get to the cream filling. You'll end up throwing the doughnut away.
So how great is this "awesome, unbelievable" plot twist? Pretty average. It's a plot twist, sure, but with such a pathetic main plot, once again, who really cares they made it a little less pathetic in the last ten minutes? It's still the generic man-must-avenge-wife story.
How was the directing? Once again, pretty typical. It just takes some elements of metafiction and puts them on filmso what? Also, the use of black-and-white intertwined is just getting downright cliché, being that most every film with "amazing directing" (big emphasis on the quotes) uses it. I will give Christopher Nolan a bit of credit, because he does keep Memento a bit more fast-paced than most thrillers I've seen, but that's about as far as I can say. It still certainly isn't thrilling, and I find that ironic.
So what it comes down to is this. If you're a hardcore thriller buff like myself, this is essential for you to see, but that doesn't mean you'll enjoy it. If you're an average movie watcher who just wants something entertaining and smart, look elsewhere. Fast.
2/10