One of Nolan's best

Rating: 9/10 (17 September 2017)

Memento is a classic film with a plot that is mysterious, fast paced, intricate and brilliant. I will try to not give too much of this plot away but I will start of by saying what everyone else is saying which is "GO SEE THIS FILM". Honestly it is that good.
To start we get the main character Leonard, who has short term memory loss, committing the murder of his wife's killer. This scene has beautiful pacing to it perfectly explaining Leonard's condition by using only visual means. He is taking a picture of the dead man at his feet and is shaking the Polaroid picture. As he shakes the picture slowly fades from a clear picture to a blank one. This perfectly explains Lenny's mental condition of not being able to retain memories. It sets the film off perfectly and introduces the audience to Lenny and what he will do to overcome his condition and find his wife's killer.
After this the story works backward from the point where Lenny kills to how he got to this moment. The pacing and editing of this film is so unique that you are actually in the same position Lenny is as you do not know what has happened at which points in the story until the story cuts back to show you how Lenny got there in the first place. That sounds like a mindfu*k and it is exactly the way Christopher Nolan wants you to feel. Christopher Nolan is, in my opinion, the greatest director of the 2000's. His camera work is very detailed where it needs to be and you can just tell that he approaches every kind of film with caring and intelligence. Than is not to say that other directors don't but I personally find whatever Nolan puts his talents too succeeds. Dunkirk, The dark knight trilogy, inception, interstellar etc. are all timeless films that give a sense of excitement and enjoyment to me whenever I watch them. Memento's story is great and you can read into so many things with this film but let's now focus on the actors. With all the dialog and misinformation that Lenny receives during the film it would be hard for any actor to go from playing guy who has discovered something to a guy who has no idea where he is. Luckily Guy Pearce is a talented actor and plays this role perfectly, you really believe in his performance and you are completely immersed in this film and the emotional way Pearce portrays Lenny.
Carrie-Anne Moss is also great in this as Natalie. She manipulates Lenny for most of the film and does such a great job of switching from one emotion to the next. In one half of the scene she is screaming at Lenny in frustration and the next minute pleading with him to help her. It's just a great performance, nothing more I can say.
Joe Pantoliano was okay in this film. While he is believable as Teddy (the cop who helps out Lenny) and has some great dialog given to him he just wasn't as good as he could be. Whilst watching I was reminded of the role he played in the Matrix and that did at times take me out of the narrative a bit. Don't get me wrong he is a great actor and plays Teddy competently however I thought that the real performances were Moss and Pearce.
The music in this film is very generic however it is used to great effect to emote the scene we are watching. As I have always said, there is nothing wrong with generic score music so long as it is used correctly. The music in this film does what it is supposed to, creates atmosphere in the suspenseful parts. Music does not have to be the main focus and it isn't in this film. The main focus is plot and pacing in memento.
Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan have written a great movie here. The actors pulled together and there are great bits of dialog and action. The pacing and editing is gorgeous and flows really well constructing a narrative but backwards. Honestly this is a great film, on of Nolan's best, and I implore you to see it.