"Thrilling" thriller

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 2001)

The term "thriller" is used too loosely with most movies claiming to be that, but "Memento" deserves that title in every respect. It's rare to find a movie that grabs you with the plot and then tells it in a way so uniquely different. The story unfolds in reverse, so that you have to see things in the same way that Leonard Shelby, the main character of the movie has to, you don't know what happened before the present! That helps you to identify with this poor man's plight as he searches for the person who ruined his life in one night, by raping and murdering his wife, and causing a brain injury that left Leonard unable to make new memories. Some people complain about the lack of depth in the characters, but how well do you expect to get to know someone who has no short term memory and who has to scribble important things on notes and get tattoos to help him cope with his handicap? He's really a blank slate, and Guy Pearce portrayed him quite well. You also don't really know where the characters he encounters in the movie are coming from most of the time either, so that when the truth is revealed about who really is the villain it is a stunning surprise! The movie really brings out how deceiving our memories can be. I thought it was a great movie!