Some memories are best forgotten

Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Russ Fega, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different." – Leonard Shelby

Why watch this? Creative film storytelling 101. Its unorthodoxy is its strength.

Plot Summary: Leonard Shelby is a former insurance investigator who suffers from a rare form of short-term memory loss. Following an assault that resulted in his wife's murder, he can remember events from his past but cannot form new memories. Leonard uses a system of Polaroids, notes, and tattoos to track information as he relentlessly seeks to avenge his wife's death.

Dad's Preview: Once in a while a film comes along that's truly unique, so shockingly original. Think of Fargo (1996), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), and Time Bandits (1981). Memento is told out of order; characters are thrown at us; scenes are restarted over and over. As I describe the film, it sounds maddening to sit through, but it's not. It follows a private investigator trying to solve a crime. The problem - he has short-term memory loss. To accommodate his affliction, he leaves himself notes, takes Polaroid photos, and even tattoos his own body. By the end, we question our protagonist's sanity, and maybe our own.

Summit Entertainment, Team Todd; Newmarket