SLAM-DUNK Oscar knab for Pearce, though it's early

Rating: 10/10 (24 February 2001)

WOW- talk about going through the proverbial looking-glass...jeez, this movie is breathtaking. The sheer ambiguity of each scene, each character, each protagonist and each line of dialouge is so beautifully and intricately pieced together- if films are judged, as I judge them, based on how much you think about them after first viewing them- well, this one sticks with you for months. It's still with me. Pearce gives an Oscar-worthy performance as a man with short-term memory loss, who needs a polaroid camera and the written word to constantly remind himself of what and who he is. Themes of revenge, of guilt, and of hatred are so beautifully intermeshed with some of the most under-appreciated actors in Hollywood today- Carrie-Anne Moss, anyone?- that one leaves the theatre THINKING- this is a THINKING movie (don't get scared), that makes you question every memory you ever had, every experience you ever experienced, and the very life, the reality, you live in. In that way, I guess, it's like The Matrix, besides the fact that two of the actors who are in that film are also in this one.
I also equate this movie to "Gladiator", in the sense that, despite it's early February-2001 release, Pearce's performance is so astoundingly thought-provoking and well-acted that an Oscar-nomination is most likely a SLAM-DUNK for next year's Oscars.