Ordinary story, told in an extraordinary way

Rating: 10/10 (7 March 2004)

Memento is one of the smartest films ever conceived, no question.
Its base story about a man's hunt for his wife's killer is certainly not original, but the way it is told here certainly is, and it uses an incredible plot device to make it work even better.
Guy Pearce is Lenny Shelby, a man suffering short term memory less - 'can't make new memories'. His wife was raped and murdered and all he has are fragmented clues about what happened and who's responsible. His problem is that because his memory last about 2 minutes he repeatedly forgets who he just met, what he just did, where he's just been. Consequently he tattoos apparent facts to his body to remind him of the 'truth' and photographs everyone he engages with as a 'memento' of them and to enable him to identify them later.
This is only half the genius of this story, the other half is equally, if not more brilliant; the story is told in reverse. It starts at the end, and makes its way to the beginning, but it's because Shelby doesn't remember anything, and of course, we do, that makes the narrative flow superbly.

The core idea is vengeance and trust - who is he after and who should he trust to help find them?
The editing in Memento is absolute genius, and somehow it all makes perfect sense and works succinctly. It is one of the most satisfying films to sit back and admire the structure of.
In terms of performances, Pearce, Pantoliano (Teddy) and Moss (Natalie) are decent if uninspiring. None of them are particularly personable but that's more down to the nature of the story than bad acting. Pearce does lack charisma, but again, you could accuse his character's condition of being the reason.
It is difficult to say more without spoiling the plot, I'll merely recommend if you haven't seen one, then you should.
Superbly original film-making.