Review of Memento (2000) by Ben L — 18 Jan 2016

It's been about 15 years since I watched Memento in a theater and I've been meaning to revisit it for a long time. However, the advantage of waiting this long is I forgot most of what happens in the film (yes, I do see the irony in that sentence.

) Watching it now made me realize just how brilliant this film is, and why I was so intrigued by it years ago. I simply adore the way Nolan structures the movie, essentially telling the narrative backwards, in order to give the audience the same uneasy feel that the main character has because of his condition.

If played in a more traditional beginning-to-end style I imagine that this movie would be kind of straightforward and lack the gut-punch that it is designed to deliver. Nolan perfectly scripted the film to constantly pull the rug out from under us so we could never trust what was happening and had to think twice about the meaning of every scene.

Guy Pearce has never been better than he is in Memento, and he perfectly plays Leonard as both dangerous and yet tragic. Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano are also very good, but really everything in this movie kind of hinges on the amazing script.

I genuinely don't want to spoil even one scene for someone who hasn't seen it, because the experience of watching it all unfold before your eyes is remarkable. I genuinely love this film, and it is easily one of my favorite movie-going experiences of all time.

Seeing it again just reinforced my feelings and now I want to own it so I can watch it repeatedly and see all the little clues and hints that Nolan brilliantly sprinkles throughout. If you haven't seen Memento, stop reading this and go watch it NOW!!!