This movie's upside down !

Rating: 10/10 (8 December 2005)

Does your memory play tricks on you? Leonard's problem is a little bigger. Struck on the head during the murder of his wife, Leonard can't (as he says) "make new memories" - that is, he has no short term memory after his injury. Through the use of notes and tattoos Leonard, a former insurance investigator, tries to solve his wife's murder. Problem is that his investigation restarts every 20 minutes or so, which can leave him subject to manipulation by others with their own agenda. And to make things even more interesting the movie is shown backwards from the most recent event to most remote.
Pearce and Pantoliano are both excellent in the leads. The problem with these trick movies typically (I'm excepting Pulp Fiction but including movies like Wild Things) is that the story-telling is somehow dishonest. Here that doesn't seem true, as much as possible they fairly accommodate the viewer within their considerable constraints. I have a different problem - I'm not willing to accept that perception is reality, and I'm not Leonard (who would have forgotten most of this movie by the end anyway), so when I've invested a couple hours I want to have some idea of what really happened (like, is Leonard's wife really dead?). That's my knock, but I give them credit for a fantastic execution of a unique concept.