A big budget flop form Director John Carpenter and star Chevy Chase, Memoirs is nowhere as bad as I've heard, but it does miss that spark to make it a really good film. A lot of elements work: The precise direction of Carpenter is at work, the Visual Effects by ILM are mesmerizing, and Chevy Chase gives a subdued, if likable performance. The film just doesn't know what it wants to be. It sets up all the pieces in place, but loses momentum halfway through the second act and never fully recovers. Way too much time is dedicated to the fizzling romance between Chase and Darryl Hannah, aglowering kinda-evil Sam Neil gets nothing to work with, and a quickie climax (That's very reminiscent of the Construction Site ending of Darkman) lands with a literal and figurative thud. From a pure spectacle level, there's enough here to warrant giving the flick a watch, but the schizophrenic nature that never gels (Is it a straight comedy? A paranoid thriller? An action film) keeps it from blowing the audience away.
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