Do you take your memory for granted? I know I do. Until now, I don't know that I've ever really taken the time to stop and reflect on just how amazing it is that I can remember anything at all. I generally just trust in the simple things, such as when I leave the house for the store that I'll remember what I needed when I get there.

Imagine for a moment what your life would be like if you didn't function that way. Imagine how profoundly different your life would be if you could not remember from one moment to the next.

Sure, you've got the basics down. You know your name, you remember growing up and going to school, but at some point you just lose the ability to form new memories. This isn't just about forgetting where your car keys are. I'm talking about a condition so severe that by the time you read this sentence you've forgotten what movie this review is about. In fact, you've probably lost track of why you're sitting in front of the computer in the first place.

Leonard (Guy Pearce) is a man with just such a condition. He tells us early in the film that some time ago (we're never completely sure if it was weeks, months or years ago), his wife was raped and killed. Leonard was injured during the attack and suffered brain damage that affected his ablity to form new memories. He remembers perfectly everything that happened up to the day of the attack, but everything since then is a confused fog.

Leonards survives by taking notes and pictures of everything. If he doesn't take a picture of you and write your name down, he won't remember you 5 minutes later. The most important notes, such as to remember to find his wife's attacker and kill him, he has tattooed on his body.

For people with this condition, Leonard tells us, some things can be learned instinctively through repetition. This explains how Leonard can remember to take notes -- eventually, it becomes a habit. He has also learned to rely on his own handwriting. Notes Leonard writes are OK; notes written by others are suspect.

As hinted at above, Leonard is on a quest to find the man who killed his wife. The police apparently had no luck, but Leonard may be getting close, despite the monumental handicap of not being able to remember anything. He even has part of the killer's name and all of the clues he finds are added to his tattoo and picture collection. The problem is that of his few friends and acquaintences, he barely knows who to trust. A man named Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) claims to be his friend, but Leonard has written not to trust him on his picture. Meanwhile, a girl named Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) seems willing to help because she's lost someone close to her, too.

The potential problem with Memento's story is that the main character is the only one without any real chance of figuring anything out. Ordinarily, the audience would be able to see through all of the plot turns, making for a boring and uninteresting film. Rather than fall into this trap, the filmmakers have come up with an ingenious solution: The story is told backwards.

The film is segmented by scenes, with each scene presented to us in reverse chronological order. The effect is to immediately create a sense of confusion for the audience similar to that Leonard experiences every moment. You see, his life isn't unlike a series of seemingly unconnected scenes. Initially we are disoriented, and remain so even after we figure out how the story is being told. Unlike Leonard, however, we can remember what has happened (will happen?) and the events and details slowly fall into place.

To be perfectly honest, I loved the clever solution for telling this story, but I'm concerned that it doesn't lend itself well to repeat viewings. Upon the first viewing, the tension and suspense created is masterful, but once you know what is going on and why, the non-linear storytelling may become tedious to sit through. This isn't like, say, Pulp Fiction, where the inter-woven plot is so complicated as to almost mandate repeat viewings. Rather, the plot of Memento is fairly simple once you figure it out. Still, it's a great film and the acting is first-rate, especially Guy Pearce's performance. He is completely believable as a man who can't remember anything. Christopher Nolan's directing is also superb and he does an excellent job of slowly bringing the story together for the audience.