Memento

Rating: 8/10 (22 July 2010)

Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) is a man with a tragic past. After a home invasion incident left his wife raped and murdered, he has lived for nothing but revenge. The tricky thing is, the same incident has rendered him incapable of remembering any recent event for longer than a few minutes, so he has to write everything down on paper, photographs or his own skin and always keep these notes with him. Despite his unusual amnesia, he is intent on finding and killing the man responsible for everything. Helping him are his talkative friend Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and a mistreated woman Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss).
The special thing about the way Memento is presented is that it's all backwards: starting from the conclusion and advancing to the situations that originally started Leonard's mission. Interspersed with the backwards narrative are chronologically progressing black & white flashbacks of Leonard explaining his situation to someone on the telephone. Like Leonard, the audience keeps learning new things from his past as time goes by, which is why the broken timeline is not just a gimmick but has a purpose in casting light on the nature of Leonard's condition.
Even though it could be very easy to lose track on the order in which the scenes are supposed to advance, Nolan's direction keeps the story perfectly understandable for an attentive viewer. Whilst it's true that the characters and the plot would be much less interesting had the story been narrated in normal chronological order, the movie is an enjoyable and unpredictable thriller as it is now. Examining themes like overcoming grief, finding a mission in life and the ultimate meaninglessness of revenge, Memento is a film that can be safely recommended to any thriller fan.