Even with everything at your hand, you can screw things up; even with a spectacular cast, you can make a bad film. Martin Campbell’s Memory (2022) is a fresh example of that. Being star-studded with the likes of Liam Neesam, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci, Ray Stevenson et al., Memory misses the bull’s eye by such huge margin that I feel terribly bad for the cast.
The film opened in India on 29 April to so many bad reviews. I did not want this to be bad, to be honest. Hence, I gave it a shot, and I don’t regret it. How come one doesn’t regret watching something despite it being bad? Let’s dive right into it.
The good:
No matter what the condition maybe, such a cast as in Memory can never disappoint you (performance-wise). Liam Neesam and Guy Pearce are spectacular as always. Guy Pearce’s performance as a cunning FBI agent, Vincent Serra, really stood out for me. Bellucci has certainly lost that glow that she used to have once, that’s for sure. But just like Neesam, she is also ageing as the finest of wines do. Although she does not get enough screentime to show her skill in the craft, her mere presence on screen does definite wonders. Ray Stevenson has been winning me over every time since I first discovered him in Dexter. In his second outing this year after RRR, he showcases himself as a new being with unarguably one of the best performances of his life. All of the cast display their maturity through their acting which is one the very few things that I liked about the film.
Adapted from the Belgian novel, De Zaak Alzheimer (1985), by Jef Geeraerts, it tells the story of an ageing hitman (Neesam) in the early stage of dementia. Given the fame of the book, the story that Memory follows, is a compelling and quite thrilling one, waiting for the right execution.
The bad:
The screenplay for the film by Dario Scardapane is pure madness. One who likes watching these actors in a good film would surely hate to see those dialogues coming out of their mouths.
The storytelling is done in such a manner that I dozed off twice during the first half. Such an original story deserved a way better execution that Memory unfortunately does not serve. Campbell, the Casino Royale (2006)-fame, still seems to be living off the fame that he had gathered because of the James Bond film years ago.
The cinematographer of the film, David Tattersall seems to be completely ignorant of what he was doing during its making. Unnecessary cuts add hugely to the negatives of Memory. To be crystal-clear, the cinematography and editing of the film s*cks big time.
Final words
Memory is a film with much potential and could have been made into a brilliant thriller. But the way it turns out to be, I want to wipe it out of my memory like a bad dream. It really pains very much to see actors like these in such projects. Had it been not this poorly executed, it would not have been shammed as it is being now, probably. But unfortunately, we don’t live in a world of ‘would-haves and could-haves’. The cast and the original story are the only things in this that keep it floating. I can only hope for such talents not to go wasted like this in future and to see them in their bests as we do most of the times.
That’s it from my side. Now it’s your turn to watch the film in theatres, or whatever way you can, and let me know what your take on the film is.
