Gripping, stunning, intelligent

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2001)

Actually, I have little to add to the majority of comments listed here, but since I just saw this movie the other night, and it really impressed me, I thought I might chime in:
The notion with which I entered the cinema was, "How gripping may a movie be if the end is given away in the beginning?", and the answer turned out to be- pretty much.
I agree, this is probably not #9 of all movies ever made. It's one more flick in the line of the others doubting our identity (like _Matrix_ or _Truman Show_), which seems to be the question of the new millenium. The acting is average, and the characters don't get too much depth, but I suspect this is a consequence of the way the story is told.
But the story is captivating, and it's narrated in an amazing way. The unfolding is very clever, and I found myself fully concentrating on the plot, all the time. (Of course, my attempts to be _ahead_ of the story were moot in a picture which is told _backwards_.) As opposed to _Matrix_, which seemed to me to be an insult to my intelligence, this one was a challenge to it. I had expected a lot of the audience to give up halfway through and start to chatter and stuff, but everyone seemingly stayed focussed till the end (I'd take this as a compliment to the film team)- and what an end it was! I went out of the cinema fairly disturbed...
Bottom line: Very nice idea, cleverly executed, always worth the admission to the cinema, or a tape's rent. But since the idea is not really _deep_, and since the way the story's told limits the story somewhat, it's not an alltime great. 8.5/10
(P.S.: Some people questioned why Leonard would know where to find his photos and stuff all the time- he repeatedly pointed out in the picture that he has conditioned himself to do so, that he got into the 'habit' of looking for them, a feat he still could manage, as opposed to Sam.)