Ingenious story-telling.

Rating: Null/10 (6 April 2002)

How do you tell the story of a man with absolutely no memory who is trying to solve a mystery by obtaining information he can't even remember? You do it by putting the audience in the exact same situation as the character.
Guy Pierce's Leonard is sure only that an assault resulted in the murder of his wife and a head injury that robbed him of his short-term memory. And he is obsessed with finding her killer. But an inability to remember events from even 5 minutes ago is the ultimate monkey wrench in the works. So Leonard documents his search for clues with photos and scribbled notes, realizing that in a few minutes, he won't even remember what they mean.
We see everything from Leonard's perspective: photos, notes and people that mean little to us until we-and Leonard-receive more information that we can remember but he can't. Constant flashbacks reveal the significance of the clues that Leonard carries with him. Where we differ with Leonard is that we can slowly piece everything together by the accumulation of facts that literally seem to go in one ear and out the other for Leonard. The search for clues and the meaning behind them becomes as fascinating for the viewer as it is frustrating for Leonard. A very unique, very-interesting story.