Review of Memento (2000) by Joe C — 04 Jan 2015

Before he pioneered, then mastered, the head-scratcher/mega-blockbuster genre, Nolan tackled a small-scale backwards-told mystery with flair and ingenuity to spare. His coming-to-Hollywood party is a deliriously twisty neo-noir puzzle about a man without any short term memory relentlessly hunting for the man who broke into his home and killed his wife.

But, as we've come to expect from his films, the plot takes a backseat to it's own symbolism, as well as the sheer epicness of the film's delivery. Told in reverse order with flashbacks of forward storytelling, Memento raises the complexity of the narrative into another stratosphere.

Coupling the altered story-telling method with a "too-clever-for-its-own-good screenplay," Nolan punishes anyone watching his debut with anything less than 100% concentration, losing you in a heartbeat if your mind lingers.