10 Stupid Arguments About Chris Nolan That Don't Make Sense

7. Memento Is Unnecessarily Confusing

The constant calls of confusion at Nolan's films are one of the most annoying, yet persistent, arguments that get flung his way. Whilst he technically made his debut with the low budget Following it was 1999's Memento that really caused the director to break through into the mainstream, thanks to an all-star cast and (crucially) a wonderfully realised script. Sure, Memento is disorientating. That's on purpose. By using a fractured narrative that skips all over its timeline its putting the audience in a similar position to Guy Pearce's amnesiac Leonard, so that we're just as out of the loop when it comes to his ongoing search for this wife's murder. Makes the ending all the more effective, too. Yet with most of Nolan's film, but this one in particular, that non-chronological ordering is often argued as being pretentious, a gimmick that doesn't mean anything. It's confusing for the sake of being confusing. Nah mate, just because you're easily confused doesn't mean this film isn't great.