Groundhog Day with murder (spoilers throughout)

Rating: Null/10 (29 June 2005)

Lenny is kind of like a goldfish. His memory doesn't last too long and he keeps wandering haphazardly from one place to another. However, unlike a goldfish he has a gun and he wants to kill the man that killed his wifewhich is nice.
Memento is a revenge thriller with no hope for catharsis and no hope for the protagonist to lead a fulfilling life after he gains his bloody vengeance. After all, according to Hollywood, once you get your revenge you're free to begin a new rewarding life  a bullet cures all ills. But Lenny is trapped. He's trapped in his own head and in a never-ending quest. Every day is the same. It's Groundhog Day with murder.
What I like most about Memento is how hollow it shows revenge to be. Like most people I'd be more than happy to return violence against me with violence, but despite the desire to right wrongs, all too often it consumes people. Lenny is an extreme example. His injury makes catharsis impossible, ensuring that he's consumed by an unsolvable puzzle, but it also works as a metaphor. Revenge can all too often become people's lives. In the end the need for justice or retribution defines the person  it's all they are  and they get trapped in a viscous cycle. They can't be happy until they get their revenge and if/when they do they cease to have a reason to live.
In light of this, perhaps Lenny has it made. His quest will never end and he'll always have a purpose. But this glib analysis ignores the dark fate that awaits Lenny. He has no chance for happiness, he has no chance to move on and he has no chance of closure. All he'll ever remember will be his wife being killed. But even if he can take a photo and convince himself that he's got his revenge he'll never have a chance to enjoy it after the deed is done. His will be a hollow victory.
However, despite the futility of Lenny's quest, the end of the film is still rather satisfying. Only for a limited time does Lenny have access to all the facts, and rather take away the one thing that gives his life meaning, he gives himself a new puzzle to solve. It's a dark ending and one that finally sheds light on what has come before, but much more than that, it says something quite profound about the human mind and how we manage to survive even when everything is against us. For a brief time Lenny's world is falling apart around him, but rather than allow himself to forget what he's been told, he exploits his own weakness to perpetuate his revenge. The cycle will continue, but in a bizarre, twisted way, justice will be done
One of the biggest surprises in Memento is the strength of Carrie-Ann Moss' performance. The Matrix films didn't really demand too much of her or test her acting skills, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her turn in an excellent performance as the horrid Natalie. Her best scene has to be her verbal assault on Lenny. It's smart, it's bad-mouthed and it had my blood boiling. In a single exchange you see the fallibility of the film's hero. Yes he may be able to write notes and tattoo is body, and he may think he knows the facts, but he can't protect himself against the manipulation of other people. He has no chance to analyse, to ruminate or to read people's character. He can only go on first impressions and the lacklustre notes he makes for himself  everything else is lost. And as he proves with his Sammy Jankis story, he's not as good as he thinks he is when it comes to reading people.
But while Natalie's treatment of Lenny is ruthless, there are hints that she at least has some sympathy for him. For instance, when he talks about his wife she does look rather sorry for him. But then again, perhaps it's nothing. However, although she exploits him to the furthest degree, I don't think that Natalie is a clear-cut villain. I think she does feel sorry for Lenny, but I don't think that she lets that get in the way of her getting her own revenge. (What a perfect crime; getting a person with no memory to kill the person you want dead.)
Stylistically, too, the film is superb. The film opens backwards and with a picture gradually getting fainter. Right from the beginning you're in the character's head. I also like the way that the past is in black and white. It suggests that the past is clear, certain. But as the film progress you realise that this might not be the case. Everything is open to doubt. The memory is incredibly fallible and the only certainty is that Lenny will never be free.