Memento (2000)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Christopher Nolan

Writers:

Jonathan Nolan (short story "Memento Mori")
Christopher Nolan (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 October 2000 (France)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Some memories are best forgotten

Plot:

A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.

Plot Keywords:

Memory | Short Term Memory | Murder | Polaroid | Short Term Memory Loss

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 42 wins & 32 nominations

Cast

Guy Pearce	...	Leonard
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Natalie
Joe Pantoliano	...	Teddy Gammell
Mark Boone Junior	...	Burt
Russ Fega	...	Waiter
Jorja Fox	...	Leonard's Wife
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Sammy
Harriet Sansom Harris	...	Mrs. Jankis
Thomas Lennon	...	Doctor
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Dodd
Kimberly Campbell	...	Blonde
Marianne Muellerleile	...	Tattooist
Larry Holden	...	Jimmy

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some drug content.

Runtime:

113 min | Turkey:107 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #37211) | Iceland:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Canada:14A | Chile:14 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15 (re-rating) | Ireland:18 (original rating) | Japan:PG-12 | Mexico:B | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:PG (censored version) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Newmarket Capital Group

Trivia:

Stephen Tobolowsky would later play another man with a memory problem in an episode of "The Lone Gunmen" (2001).

Goofs:

Continuity: At the beginning, when Leonard and Teddy arrive at the abandoned building the weather is cloudy, but when they get out of the Jaguar it becomes sunny all of a sudden.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Leonard Shelby: [voiceover] So where are you? You're in some motel room. You just - you just wake up and you're in - in a motel room. There's the key. It feels like maybe it's just the first time you've been there, but perhaps you've been there for a week, three months. It's - it's kind of hard to say. I don't - I don't know. It's just an anonymous room.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Scarlett Johansson/Björk (#32.18)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Generation Z

can't believe how much I'm still thinking the day after

So the "innovative" concept of filming out of sequence has been cliche for at least a few years now, but here's a film that makes it work far better than its been shown in a while.

Having read the reviews and talked to others who saw it, I thought that I'd go into the movie figuring everything out right away and declaring the concept unworkable. I couldn't be further from the truth. This movie does things to your head that are illegal in some countries. Portrayed (for all intents and purposes) backwards, it forces you to think in the same way that our lead character, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce being more brilliant than usual) does. Suffering from a condition that renders him unable to remember anything for more than a few minutes, he is searching for the man who raped and killed his wife. Since each seen lasts no more than 15 minutes before jumping back to the what happened before that, our perceptions are shattered in the same way.

Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano (both of The Matrix) put in great performances that leave you guessing; simultaneously endearing and revolting.

Overall I left the film trying to figure out what was what, and I'm still not sure. This film noir concept shouldn't work, but it does so wonderfully.