A fascinating, cerebral thriller as an ex-insurance investigator looks to find who murdered his wife. But his search is compounded by a rare and untreatable form of memory loss.
The last thing Leonard (Guy Pearce) remembers is the death of his wife. But he now lives in a snapshot of repeats, aided by a Polaroid camera and notes jotted on the image or tattooed onto his body. The confusion of time is part of the quest – one part moves forward, the second part moves the narrative backwards. Where did the car and fancy suit come from? Just who is Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) – friend or foe? And waitress Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss). What is her role in his narrative?
Captivating, occasionally confusing and expansive in its ambition within a confined chronology. Only director Christopher Nolan’s second film, it’s a quiet, low-budget character piece that avoids much of the bluster and bombast of his later films.
Nominated for 2 Oscars in 2002 – original script, editing
Rating: 76%
Director: Christopher Nolan (Inception, Oppenheimer)
Writer: Christopher Nolan (Inception, Oppenheimer), Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight, TV’s Westworld)
Main cast: Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, Holding the Man), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix, TV’s Wisting), Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix, Bad Boys For Life)
An Opinion or Two 