A momento if you understand memento

Rating: 9/10 (29 March 2008)

(Karthik Narayan) Before we start, note the spelling  its M-E-M-E-N-T-O and not MOMENTO, as I had thought! Now let's start this movie review: Imagine having a jigsaw puzzle in hand, and you don't have a clue what completes it. You don't have all the pieces required to finish it. There is no picture in your mind, and you are left to search for your answers. What do you do? To what sounds like a treasure hunt and a jigsaw puzzle combined, add a strong flavor of revenge and you get a masterly movie all set before your home screens! All you need to do is get the DVD and watch it. Maybe over and over again, like I have been doing The movie begins with the end and the end marks the beginning of the story (did I say that right?). Yes, that is how this movie unravels itself. The plot thickens as you move backwards (pun intended) and when all the pieces are slowly knitted together, the beginning (or is it the ending) is quite beautiful.
The alternating between the Black/White and the color every ten minutes or so makes it all the more compelling to watch. And how do you watch this movie? Ideally it should be shown from back to front to understand.
This isn't a murder mystery movie  its more of a thriller that takes so many twists and turns as you move towards the beginning (Oh no, not again. Somebody stop me) that you never get enough of watching it once.
The movie doesn't end telling you what to make of it. You have to draw your own conclusions and decipher your own riddles. When the movie brilliantly closes with the credits, it leaves you wondering about reality and what you had been watching all along.
As you still can't get over Guy Pearce's (the protagonist, Leonard) handsome looks, also note that he has a blank look on his face most of the time. That says it all  he looks helpless. You don't know how to react to his confused state of mind  you get stuck between 3 things  whether to slap him and bring him to shape; or feel pity for him hoping he would recover. The other thing that keeps us interested is how to crack the case. How would he find revenge, and how would he remember it? All confusions and the "don't trust anybody" funda psychologically affects us as well as we are left with no choice but to not trust what we see and hear of other characters.
Christopher Nolan has directed the movie excellently, with an adapted screenplay based on the short story by Jonathan Nolan (are they related?), that keeps us all on the edge of our seats. This movie carries more mystery and as each piece falls in place.
But the first half of the movie makes no sense at all; you really get things moving along only after the removal of the tattoos on Guy's body. Overall, this is not a movie which you will appreciate if you want to watch a fun movie. It needs your attention and you get engrossed in the thick of action.
There are some scenes which could have been done away with, for example, the hotel scene where Pearce calls for an escort, but it all adds up to the confusion, so I am not to complain.
Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie still carries her looks of Matrix, and though there isn't a meaty role in the movie for her, so she does well.
Joe Pantoliano as Teddy steals most of the scenes with his corny jokes and at one point of time, you can't help loving his casual approach to the whole thing.
The acting is brilliant, the settings and camera work are good. The music by David Julyan is racy and keeps the pulse ticking faster with every scene. I'm sure I would be hearing a lot of and from him.
Simply for creativity and keeping the adrenaline and brain cells ticking all the time, this movie deserves great accolades. This is an all time classic that I would recommend to test your thought process. If I were to put up an all time list of best movies, this would definitely find its place in the top 25. Rating  8.5/10.
As for the book, if you ever get hold of it, keep me informed!