A solid 'gimmick movie'

Rating: 7/10 (19 September 2001)

Memento is a great 'gimmick movie'. A gimmick movie is a movie which depends on a gimmick in the storytelling or character development to hold your interest. Most gimmick movies from "Nick of Time" to "Sliding Doors" don't really hold up but others like "Memento" and "Seven" do. Here are the gimmicks in "Memento" :
1)The main character, played by Guy Pearce has short term memory problems.
2)The story is told backwards.
The reason this works where the others don't is that the two gimmicks work in conjunction. There are scenes when characters appear and talk to Guy Pearce like they've known him for years but he's clueless- and so are you.
The acting is solid. Pearce does a nice job as somebody who no matter how hard he tries doesn't have clue what's going on. Carrie-Ann Moss plays the love interest in a nice follow-up to "The Matrix". Joe Pantiliano is outstanding (of course, he always is).
Having said all that, I felt let down at the ending. I didn't get that sense that the wool had been pulled over my eyes as I did with "The Usual Suspects and especially "The Sixth Sense". I think it needed another 30 minutes of storytelling. Still it is worth watching and will definitely hold your interest.