Perhaps the most intelligent film you will see all year

Rating: Null/10 (15 April 2001)

The fact that this had a limited release here in the UK is nothing short of criminal. I can understand that a lot of people wouldnt like this movie, after all with so many of todays films being popcorn entertainment the appeal of a film designed to rock your mind and get you questioning everthing you have seen is limited perhaps. But this is certainly a film you will remember long after you have seen it, there is no short term memory loss in that area. It sucks you in, and just when your comfortable that your beginning to understand and piece together the random pieces of the jigsaw you see on the screen it ties your brain up in knots while you least suspect with one killer twist after another, and while your busy unraveling the knots proceeds to do the same thing again. Even though things apparently start to become clear you soon find out they are not, nothing is as it seems, and you really do thanks to excellent editing get a feel for the kind of condition leonard has. The genius way this film is put together (like i said a huge complex jigsaw) means you see a scene (for example scene A) that has little relevance you think to the plot..... but, nothing is as it seems, and a few minutes later another scene starts (scene C perhaps), but, this scene ends where scene A began earlier. Slowly putting together the pieces. Its difficult to explain and if that confused you i apologise, but thats the way the movie twists and turns along, and this is in no way a criticism. It really is something that has to be seen to be believed because the way it all fits together from fragments of memory is extremely clever and also very fitting to the premise of the movie and cannot be explained by the viewer, quite simply because they struggled to understand it too, and/or question what they saw or percieved to see. AGHHHH im rambling again, do you see what i mean? Forget the matrix, they should have saved the tagline they used there for this movie. Anyone interested in cinema, anyone who likes to have their minds messed with or appreciates first rate storylines/twists, directing and editing should see this movie. Its a shame this movie isnt more mainstream because it deserves the attention, yet the irony of it is the beauty of this movie is the elements which prevent it being such. I very rarely comment on a movie, only when i felt i had to tell people what a fantastic experience it was. So take that as an indication of my thoughts on this movie.
10/10