Memento

Memento is generally a good film, definately worth a watch christian bale is always good in these "cold" roles however i do feel he chooses his roles really safely. Good narrative, original and Christian Bale is always good although he only seems to have one facial expression

8/10

Imagine not being able to remember what happened 15 minutes ago, while at the same time being able to conjure up memories from years ago. No, I'm not talking about the sadness that is Alzheimer's but about Memento, a film starring Guy Pearce as Leonard, a man whose last lasting memory is of the night his wife died before his eyes. Everything after that time is fragmentary, because the traumatic head injury he suffered at that moment has induced a rare form of memory impairment. Leonard can't store new memories, which makes life very difficult indeed.

In spite of this Leonard proceeds through life with a mission - to find and kill the man who raped and murdered his wife. His companions on this quest are policeman Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and waitress Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss). In the shadows lurk a couple of other villains - Jimmy Grantz (Larry Holden) the drug dealer and Dodd (Callum Keith Rennie) a user and hard man and one of Natalie's boyfriends.

In order to keep track of events, Leonard uses written notes, annotated Polaroids and tattoos (yes, you heard me right).

The film starts with the killing of the man he believes to be his wife's murderer and then works backwards from that moment. The reverse time frame is shot in colour, but at the same time there is a real-time time frame shot in black and white during much of which Leonard is talking on the telephone. In those conversations Leonard recounts an incident in his previous life as a claims adjuster, where he met Sammy Jankis (Stephen Tobolowsky), who suffered from the same condition and his wife (Harriet Sansom Harris).Eventually the two time frames converge.

As the film progresses it becomes clear that each of the other characters has his or her own agenda and that Leonard's illness makes him vulnerable to being used.

The disorientation of Leonard's experience is shared by the viewer as the intertwining spirals can be difficult to keep track of. What you seem to know half an hour into the film is later revealed to be not so at all. Nothing is what it seems, either to Leonard or to the viewer, and the unravelling of the mystery is intriguing.

There are moments of humour and sadness and the film, though puzzling, is extremely watchable. Look out for:

. when the hotel manager explains why Leonard's in a different room

. when Natalie comes in claiming that her boyfriend beat her up

. when Leonard goes into someone's room to wait, forgets why he's there and takes a shower.

I could say more, but I don't want to spoil it.

Guy Pearce is outstanding and totally believable (if sometimes chilling) as the memory-impaired Leonard. The other characters are equally good in their off-beat roles.

If you can get past the first 15 minutes (which are slow and somewhat surreal) you may find, as I did, that you're absorbed by this innovative concept.