2000

I saw this film in theatres almost on a whim, with no real expectations going in. I was blown away. I sat for the last 20 minutes squirming in my chair because I had to go to the bathroom really badly, but I couldn't pull myself away from the proceedings. My friend and I were having discussions based on this movie for at least two weeks after seeing it. The plot is simple. John Sullivan is a cop going through a failing marriage. He stumbles on an old ham radio, and thanks to some unexplained phenomenon brought on by the aurora borealis, he begins talking with Frank, a firefighter from Queens who just happens to be John's long-dead father 30 years in the past. Impossible? Sure. But the plot is easily pulled off by the earnest, heartfelt performances of Jim Caviezel and Dennis Quaid who are both excellent in their respective roles. Their relationship is so real and aimiable that it grounds the fantastic premise and allows us to move forward, or backward as the case may be. What the Sullivans discover is that it's tough messing with the past. They change something and it affects something else, until they are in over their heads trying to stop a serial murderer in the past from John's vantage point in the future. The result is a tense, emotional, and mesmerizing thriller that sucks you in and doesn't let go until the final scene. If you're a fan of high-concept films in general or time-travel movies in particularly, you'll have a lot to think about there. I did. The plot is pretty tight given the time-bending theme which is always difficult to pull off. The creators take a few cinematic liberties but the story still makes a lot of sense if you follow it correctly and stands up to a lot of scrutiny. This is one of my favorite movies, and I think it is vastly overlooked and underrated. Check it out, suspend your disbelief a little, and enjoy the ride.

Memento is one of the most sensational films I've ever had the privilege of seeing. It's a bit disheartening to see so many unenthusiastic reviews. This movie reeled me in with the fascinating opening shot and kept me hooked until the credit reel. It's hard to imagine Chris Nolan's psychological thriller being any more tightly wound nor accomplishing its goal with greater calculation. This is a very entertaining movie, yes, but more than that it's one that makes you think. To some people that's too much work - this isn't something you watch when you want to kick back and unwind. It's an absorbing, thought-provoking experience that disturbs not on a visceral level with violence or abberation but in our intellectual centers. It questions whether we really know what we know. In Leonard (played to perfection by Guy Pearce) we find an extremely sympathetic protagonist, and in a way we take his journey with him and try to solve his mystery. The backwards narration of the movie is in no way a gimmick, but is in fact of great importance. During each new scene, we are greeted as Leonard is - with the disorientation of having no knowledge of the events immediately preceeding. We get a glimpse of how he must feel, constantly deprived of the short term recollection most of us take for granted. As we gain more insight into the past, our perceptions of the characters and their motivations as well as the facts of the story shift and change in a dynamic fashion; and the movie invites several viewings at least to catch everything and try to pin down the exact nature of the narrative. Creative, ambitious, artistic, and stirring, I highly recommend Memento to anyone who likes to bring their brains to the movies.

I wanted to like this film, but in the end I didn't think it was nearly as good as most people make it out to be. Christian Bale does an admirable job as Patrick Bateman, giving his character the venerable veneer of a slick, wealthy business playboy but also easing in the nuances of a man who is disquieted, competitive and compulsive. Bateman's world is one of extreme vanity - he and his ultra-rich colleagues compete to see who has the best business card. Their greatest concern is having dinner reservations at an upscale establishment, whether they are hungry or not. Their materialistic, surface world is every bit as hollow and unfeeling as Bateman describes himself, and is the perfect disguise for his mounting psychosis. More than once he tries to tell people what he is feeling, to get their response. He tries to reach out and see if anyone will react and maybe help him with his situation, but no one ever does. They don't know who he is, and truth be told, they don't really care. All of this is portrayed perfectly with a morbid glee and a biting cynicism. Yet for all its flare and competence in treating its subject matter, American Psycho leaves something to be desired. The story develops at a modest pace, and when it ends, nothing is really decided. The audience is left to wonder about the nature of what they've just seen, and yet there are but a few subtle clues to even let them know what questions they should be asking. The result is a very flat and somewhat ambiguous conclusion that fails to invigorate or validate the experience of watching the film, or even to invite a second viewing. There is some entertainment value in observing Bateman's quirks and interactions, but it's only truly frightening on a conceptual level making it a far cry to call it a horror film; and it's not very funny for a dark comedy. The central character carries the movie on his toned, tanned, moisturized shoulders, but he can't quite lift it from art-house slasher into greatness.