I reckon what makes this work from Christopher Nolan is the creation of a cerebral maelstrom that is every bit as confusingly frustrating for us watching as it is for his protagonist "Leonard" (Guy Pearce). Now we don't know how he has developed his menacing ninja skills, but we do know that he is trying to get to the bottom of his wife's murder, and that he has virtually no short-term memory to help him. As he pieces things together, he has to leave himself notes, or polaroids augmented with scribbles so he can recall just how far he has got and whom he can (or cannot) trust. The facts that he considers crucial are tattooed across his body as his search narrows - or does it? Along the way he meets some characters that he has some documentation on - some, not. Some he advises himself to trust, some not. Some of the photos depict dead bodies. On those fronts, we do have just a little more information on the cause tan he does - but it doesn't really help anyone deduce who did kill his wife? Maybe he did it himself? Its a maze of a film this. It's littered with twists and complications - but they are not annoying nor gratuitous. It's the ultimate in cinematic one step forward two steps back, and those muddled scenarios are only emphasised by "Natalie" (Carrie-Anne Moss) and an on-form Joe Pantoliano as "Teddy" - a man who features increasingly as his quest proceeds. I also did enjoy the ending. It avoids the concrete and the simplistic, and offers a fitting end to a potently effective effort from a Pearce at the top of his game.
