"Memento" is not a movie for morons. Though I'm certainly no Einstein, I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent guy. Still, I can't tell you with 100% honesty that I understood every single thing in "Memento." It's not the usual movie, and the story isn't told the usual way. Still, it's a brilliantly crafted concept, and a perfectly executed film. It's just that I might have to see it again to fully appreciate it. Actually, I might have to see it TWO more times to fully appreciate it. But even after only seeing it once, and, admittedly, I didn't completely understanding everything, I can tell you that it's the best film of the year so far.
As original as "Memento" seems to be, I HAVE seen this concept before... very recently, in fact. On the third episode of this season's "The X Files" (entitled "Redrum"... the guest star was Joe Morton, the guy who played "Miles Bennett Dyson" in "Terminator 2"), the episode not only focused on a very similar story, but it was told in a very similar style. I don't know who ripped off whom, or if there was any ripping off at all, but it's uncanny how similar the stories are. It was a very good episode of "The X Files," one of the best, in fact, but in "Memento," the story is much more complicated. I'll just assume that it's all a coincidence. These weird things happen, ya know?
"Memento" was written and directed by Christopher Nolan. This is his second film, his first being an independent film I never saw called "Following." In that movie, he wrote, produced, edited, directed, and even did the cinematography. I'm gonna have to find that movie, 'cause I'd really like to see it. The credits say that "Memento" was based on a short story by Jonathan Nolan. I assumed that he was the brother of the writer/director, but after doing a little research, it may be fair to assume that they're both the same person. Christopher Nolan's birth name is Christopher Jonathan James Nolan. Weird. Three first names. It's especially weird that two of those names are "James" and "Jonathan." If you see the movie, you'll see that the names "James" and a variation on "Jonathan" are both important.
Guy Pierce plays the main guy in the movie, and his performance is exceptional. He's in just about every scene in the movie (which makes sense, since the story is told from his perspective), and he's awesome. He was most recently in a movie I never saw called "Ravenous." The last time I saw him, he was in the great movie, "L.A. Confidential." He's a fantastic Australian actor, and I hope he becomes as successful as his fellow Aussie co-star in "LA Confidential," Russell Crowe. Two other key roles are played by a couple of cast members from "The Matrix," Carrie-Anne Moss (she was "Trinity" in "The Matrix") and Joe Pantoliano (he was "Cypher"). Carrie-Anne Moss, who is very sexy in this movie plays a character who... well, let's just say that she's not "Trinity." She really is a great actress. I like her in this movie. Joe Pantoliano is very good, too. Now he can be seen in the popular HBO TV series, "The Sopranos."
Don't let anyone tell you anything about "Memento." Go and see it having no clue what to expect. That's the best way to see it. The slightest hint at what you can expect may kill some of the surprises, so don't let anyone ruin it for you.
Despite my saying how great this movie is, it's not flawless. At one point, I thought that it dragged a bit, and I was wondering when it would end. It's about two hours long, but I think that it coulda been about ten or fifteen minutes shorter. I can think of one scene in particular that was inserted as nothing more than comic relief, but it seemed really out of place, and totally unnecessary. Still, I really, really like this movie.
"Memento"
is great. It's a fascinating, challenging movie that dares us to figure
everything out. Walking out of the theater, I kept going over everything
in my head, trying to make sense of everything, and although I tried, some
questions remain unanswered. I'm really looking forward to seeing it again.
Scale of 1-10: 9