Mostly Christopher Nolan gets pub for being the man behind Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but with the popularity of Inception people, are starting to get a handle on the dark twisty directing style that is really his bread and butter. Also, seeing as I am actually unsure yet as to whether I will pay to go see Inception, I decided to temper that by retro reviewing this one.
Memento was not the first movie he directed, but it is the movie that really put him on the map and was his first movie to actually have a cast and a budget. (even though it was a small one) He made some smart casting decisions by casting the always great Guy Pierce as Lenny and surrounding him with a cast of solid supportive character actors. Oddly, he snagged two of the cast from the previous years Sci/Fi smash the Matrix. Carrie-Ann Moss and Joe Pantoliano both had major roles in that movie, and are the two major supporting actors in Memento. They both give excellent performances. Also, you can see a cameo by Jorja Fox in this film as Lenny's wife when she is shown in the flashback scenes. She is more commonly recognized in her role on CSI as Sara Sidle. The acting will not be a disappointment in this film which is important since this is primarily a character and dialogue driven film. Guy Pierce particularly sells this film with his continually ability to make the fact his characters memories keep disappearing believable. The acting however, is not what makes this movie distinctive as a Christopher Nolan vehicle.
What Christopher Nolan loves to do, and does well, is winding a plot that makes it difficult to separate the reality from the fiction. He is striving for more than just a simple plot hook with a twist at the end. He is trying to craft a movie that makes the audience completely engage with the characters, yet been completely in the dark about what is real and what isn't. A Nolan film is unmistakeable in its artistic value. Its dark gritty, and his style is very distinct. Its hard to describe but you know it when you see it and by all accounts Inception might be his opus when it comes to this style and reality bending. But this all started with Memento, which deals with something nearly as fragmentary and illusory as dreams, memory. If you are a lover of the movie Inception, then you owe it to yourself to watch the movie that started Nolan on this path, and if you have seen it then you should go re-watch it, Memento is truly a great movie.
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