As I said before,there’s not much new I can add to this. Memento is a movie that I think we are all universally introduced to once we hit college the first time, and for many of us it’s our first true “intelligent” movie. There are definitely smarter movies out there, but none seem quite as entertaining or as enthralling as this. It’s a movie that you should have seen by now, or should be on your way to see it already. I literally cannot recommend this movie highly enough.
There’s literally a twist in every scene of this movie. The method of telling the story backwards puts you in a strange place that you aren’t sure how you got there, and then proceeds to keep twisting and turning. Memento‘s only true flaw is that by nature, the story is never quite as good after the first viewing, once you know what’s going on. But that’s when you start picking it apart. That’s when you notice the license plate was different, or someone is wearing a different shirt, or that Leonard just passed a familiar building. What Memento sacrifices in emotional impact in multiple viewings, it makes up for in it’s picture hunt-esque film making that scatters all the clues you need to draw one out of a million of different conclusions about what’s really going on in this film. Much like I mentioned in my Inception review, the joy of Memento is that it makes you earn your surprises.
What can be said about Memento that hasn’t been said a dozen times before? Nolan’s ground breaking film (and arguably the one that put him on the map as a big time director) is a mind bending thriller that becomes an enigma with every viewing. In fact, I think Memento is probably my favorite Nolan film and, yes, that does include his work on the Batman franchise.
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie Anne-Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky
Director: Christopher Nolan
Run Time: 113 Minutes
[rating: 5/5]
To commemorate the release of Inception, we’re making this CHRISTOPHER NOLAN WEEK on The HomeWorld. Stop by every day as we take a look back at Nolan’s previous works, all week long.
