Check Out the Trailer
This is a film for fans of unpredictable films like THE USUAL SUSPECTS and SIXTH SENSE. The most interesting thing about the film is that it runs backwards. You see the end of the film first and then it jumps back fifteen minutes runs forward then jumps back in time before the moment you just watched. This isn't just an exercise in style, but also fits the plot brilliantly.
The film follows Leonard (Guy Pearce, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL), who has lost the ability to make new memories. He can't remember what happened 15 minutes prior. However, every memory before his wife was killed and he was hit in the head is still there. He races around trying to find the man who killed his wife. If he doesn't write things down (or tattoo them to his body), he will forget them soon after, even friends Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss, THE MATRIX) and Teddy (Joe Pantoliano, BOUND). But when you can't remember who these people are, can you really trust them?
Director Christopher Nolan has really broken onto the scene with this mind-bending thriller, which was based on a short story by his brother Jonathan Nolan. Pearce's performance is convincing and determined. The memory loss could have come off as a gimmick, but Pearce makes us believe in the confused and paranoid Leonard, who desperately wants to just find out the truth.
As I mentioned earlier, the plot structure has its purpose. It adds an interesting level of confusion to the story that mirrors the anxiousness that Leonard feels. Additionally, the closer we get to the murder of his wife, the more knowledge we learn not on what happened to his wife, but what has happened to him since his wife's death. His condition seems to attract a lot of parasites. For example, the hotel manager where he stays charges him for two rooms, because he can't remember whether he's paid or not. This stretches across all his relationships and the more we learn, the more we fear for Leonard and what he has already done.
You have to pay attention to this one or you will be lost totally. But the concentration is worth the pay off. This ingenious thriller twists and turns, but does so without cheating. Well not cheating too much. It's exciting and original and keeps you on the edge the entire time. Leonard's condition is its own private level of internal hell and Nolan brings us successfully into his main character's state of mind.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
