One of 2000's best films

Rating: 10/10 (13 October 2000)

This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time, especially following a summer in which the top movies were about sexagenarians in space and Tom Cruise face masks. The premise--that this guy has lost all short-term memory and thus every hour is a fresh start--nicely fits the backwards nature of the storytelling. We see the end and work back to the beginning, and along the way all of our landmarks are turned upside down. Just when you start to think you have a handle on a character, you see what that person did previously and it distorts your thinking. We know immediately that Leonard, played by Guy Pearce with his usual flawless American accent, is trying to track down his wife's killer. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that by the end of the movie, you leave the theater wondering if you really know whodunit. The brilliance of the movie is how it gets from the end to the beginning and keeps the viewer engaged (and occasionally breathless).