****1/2

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2002)

"Maybe you've got an idea of what you want to do but can't remember what you just did." These days there aren't many thrillers that have the balls to be different. With the exception of the masterpiece Mulholland Drive and The Salton Sea most thrillers are pretty standard. Mostly the story line involves a protagonist who is searching for a faceless antagonist because they have committed a crime or for other personal reasons. That said I have just described the story behind Memento. Now just hear me out because I am anything but a hypocrite. Leonard is trying to hunt down the person who raped and murdered his wife. During his investigated two people fade in and out of his mind (Teddy and Natalie) faster than he can even process. Neither of them clam to know the other but they sure seem to know a lot about each other, both are also very suspicious characters in a world where no one can be trusted. But this film has one twist that will make this film genius to some and unbearable to others. The twist is that Leonard has a "condition" that allows him to remember everything up to the death of his wife but can't create any new memories. It is like every time Leonard opens his eyes a whole new world has been crated around him. He knows who he is but not what he has become. He knows what he is doing but not whom he is doing it for. Now you are probably wondering how a simple characteristic like short-term memory loss makes a film unbearable to some. This is where director Christopher Nolan comes into play. Nolan has decided to take a simple concept and tell it in one of the most original fashions I have seen in a film noir. He allows the entire film to unfold backwards! We open the film with a scene showing Leonard killing the man he thinks responsible for the death of his wife. We then move back in time to see how he came to the opening scene (the ending). Instead of giving the audience a situation and letting them figure out the mystery, Nolan has give us the conclusion and the basic story elements and lets the audience figure out if Leonard's actions are justified. Another interesting concept is that whenever a scene ends by meeting where the previous one started we cut to a black and white scene showing Leonard in an anonymous room, taking an anonymous phone call. He tells the caller of his days when he had to investigate a man named Sammy Jankis who suffered from the same condition as him. This is where the film gets tricky. See the black and white scenes provide a means of characterization and basic insight into what is, has and will happen to Leonard in colour. It also lets us understand Leonard's condition more thoroughly to strengthen the plot immensely with the audience even knowing. The thing that makes these scenes tricky is that while the one in colour run backwards, the black and white ones run forward in time until the finally meet at the end to provide a whole new light on everything. This is a very impressive piece of work for a first time director such as Nolan who also wrote the script. He makes everything seem visually stunning without the use of any special effects or trickery. He also creates a world where everything said and done is significant to the films outcome. If you don't pay attention to something because you think it isn't important or is boring than you may as well stop watching because everything that the eye can see is important to take in. Nolan also keeps everything thought provoking and edgy at all times. There is not one moment in this film that allows you to stop thinking and take a break. Nolan hardly gives you enough time to even blink and even the lighter scenes in the film have an eerily suspenseful ness to them. There are also some bits of dark humour thrown in but instead of being a break from the tension they only maximize it. To me this humour came off as a dead irony and just helped build onto Leonard's character. Both Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano give great performances as Teddy and Natalie but it is Guy Pearce as Leonard who gives a career making performance. Never once did he allow anyone to forget about his condition and rely simply on the story because this character is the story that he doesn't know he is telling and working in the world that he doesn't know he is living in. In fact this character is the centre of the universe in this film. Everything revolves around him. He is more than just a character; he is a reminder of reality because if you don't remember what order the scenes come in then you will not understand this film at all. What better way is there to feel like your living in a characters shoes than that? Pearce does a fabulous job of keeping everything in tact and getting off his character as likeable but still a very real person. It is nice to know that when David Lynch is gone there will still be someone who isn't afraid to make a film that doesn't merely focus on the story but more on how the audience interprets it.