By Dr. Hannibal Lector
Guy Pearce plays Leonard Sheply in this thriller. Imagine a murder investigation with lots of twists and turns and betrayals but the investigator has a short-term memory so the movie plays…backwards. Sounds interesting, right? But of course, WE don’t come to the movies for that. WE, and when I say WE I mean me and my collective readers because I know exactly what it is you want, WE want TASTY CINEMA. And at that this the movie miserably fails.
Two main problems with this movie that could have been a masterpiece: First off, no one is beefy! Natile (Carrie Anne-Moss…TRINITY!) shows a strong likeness to that of a twig. Teddy (Joe Patomino or something…think Cypher from “The Matrix.” That movie was appetizing, even though it wasn't tasty. Weren’t you appetized when Agents took over human sentients?) is a fricken’ wannabe that THINKS he’s beefy, but not a man on earth would desire to close their jaws on his face. In a movie with so little tastiness, I was thinking Joe would make up for it by fattening up, but NO.
And finally, Leonard himself, who gets the most camera time. He is quite possibly the least appetizing human in existence. WAY too inky to be seriously enjoyed. To conclude, this is a movie that had a great premise but is deeply flawed. I mean, god, they should have gotten John Goodman to play Teddy! That would make up for ALL the actors in this movie!
The only appetizement factor in this movie is that Leonard is so vulnerable, and not just because of his short-term memory. He doesn't like being called "Lenny" because he hated it when his wife called him that. But the only reason he wants to kill his wife's killer is so the evil demon that possessed his wife to call him "Lenny" would be destroyed. I don't think he really cared about vengenance. Thus, the movie should have been called "The Shutting-Up of the Wife." Leonards vulnerabillity is the main saving factor in this flawed and mis-titled movie.
Out of Ten:
Tastiness: 0 (Only three movies have earned a score higher then this.)
Appetizement: 3
Overall Delciousness: 1
