haunting and powerful

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2001)

I'll be a gentleman and not spoil anything, but I would like to address a criticism I've heard, which is that MEMENTO is a hollow exercise lacking emotional substance. I think the film is haunting, and that would be enough, but when we reach the denouement -- the beginning of the story -- we see that Nolan has something powerful to say about how rage can motivate us to do the things we do. There's a series of decisions Leonard makes in that scene which he knows he'll forget, and those decisions are recognizably human, and there's some terrific reverberation, particularly to a scene in which Natalie goes out to a car to wait. Obviously I'm being obtuse, but those who have seen the movie will know what I'm speaking of, and probably agree. I was stunned and thrilled by this one, and my friend and I had a great time hashing things out afterward. And you know, we still don't know for sure on some points, and that's great.