OK, but too clever for its own good

Rating: Null/10 (14 October 2001)

Come on, folks. As I write this, MEMENTO is listed as the 9th BEST FILM OF ALL TIME? Yeah, right. I'm not going to come down too hard on this, but this is one of those films which is so concerned with how cleverly it tricks the audience (6TH SENSE, USUAL SUSPECTS) that it inevitably will be a let down when all the plot mechanics are revealed as a giant ruse. Not to say that clever plotting is bad, but the final results have to be a revelation - or carry a deeper resonance (i.e. THE CONVERSATION, Godard's LA CHINOISE or Bunuel's masterpiece BELLE DE JOUR) not just a cheap cinematic trick. Check out Nolan's FOLLOWING for a better, less cynical, treatment of a similar theme.