Not for the stupid

Rating: 10/10 (17 March 2003)

Memento is quite simply the best thriller of all time. This is a completely original backwards thriller with outstanding performances from its entire cast and a screenplay that is unmatched by any other movie in history. I wanted Memento to keep going for as long as possible, to keep revealing pieces of its intricate puzzle. More important than anything I've just said is this: GO SEE THIS MOVIE!
Note: This is a very difficult movie to review without making it a spoiler, but there is nothing in the following review that will ruin the movie for anyone who has not yet seen it.
I had no idea of what this movie was going to be like when I walked into the theatre, but I was hooked from beginning to end. First, the performances by Matrix veterans Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano are masterful. Their characters play the audience just like they play Leonard, and that is what makes them so compelling. Pantoliano especially shines here in a performance similar to some of Joe Pesci's academy award caliber work. But the real prize goes to Guy Pearce who really puts himself on the map with a surprisingly sympathetic performance as a man out to get revenge for the murder of his wife. Pearce should have been recognized after his performance in the critically acclaimed L.A. Confidential, but he still remained in the dark due to the box office mediocrity of that film. Here we get to see his true potential in a role that should at least nab him a best actor Oscar nomination if not a win.
Additional praise MUST be given to Christopher Nolan who both wrote and directed this film, which was spawned from a short story written by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Christopher's first film, a black and white piece called `The Following' (another must see film), displayed that he was a director with infinite potential. With Memento Nolan not only shows that he is for real, but also establishes himself as one of the premiere screenwriters and directors of the new generation.
We see Nolan's effect from the first scene of the movie: a brilliant shot of a Polaroid fading instead of developing. But this is just a taste of things to come in this backwards movie. After it is completely faded, the picture pops back into Leonard's camera and the entire opening scene plays backwards ending with Leonard shooting Teddy in the head. Throughout the rest of the movie, Nolan uses his color scenes to represent elements starting from the `end' and going backwards in time and he uses black and white to start at the `beginning' and go forward in time. Confused yet? Well, if that's not enough, the black and white scenes and the color scenes actually merge into one in the end of the movie so the final scene can finally piece together this intriguing and complex puzzle. Additionally, the color scenes overlap with each other and we have more and more revealed to us with each scene. This is technically the opposite of Leonard's experience, yet at the same times it allows us to feel exactly how Leonard feels because we are slowly given information until the end when everything comes together.
I realize that what I said above may have been more than confusing, but that is how this movie plays out. Most viewers will need to see it at least twice to get the full experience of what Memento has to offer, and most viewers will also want to watch it a third, fourth, fifth, etc. time. This movie truly gets better with each viewing because you pick up new elements along the way each time. Personally, I picked up more on the `Sammy Jenkis' story. Sammy was a man that Leonard liked to talk about because also had a short-term memory problem. I did not fully understand the meaning behind this story until I saw it my second time, but Sammy Jenkis is just the tip of the iceberg. You won't be disappointed in the least bit unless you only see this movie once.