How many of you have forgotten things? Like where you left your car keys, your purse/wallet, or someone's name? Everyone forgets things at times. Think about how annoying it is when you can't remember something. Now imagine not being able to remember anything you have done just minutes later. You can remember who you are and things from you past, but you can't remember anything you have done recently. You have no short term memory. How would you function? This condition is what Leonard Shelby lives with in Memento.

I hadn't heard of this movie before I read some reviews of it here at Epinions. The reviews intrigued me, so that I rented the movie and watched it with a friend one night. Memento is one of the most original, if not the most original movies I have ever seen. It is certainly the most original I have seen recently. The movie is very confusing at times and it makes you think. You have to think to figure out what in the world is going on. I saw this movie a little while ago with my friend - I've had this written up for a while now, I just didn't get it typed up and posted until now. After the movie was over, I was still confused about some things. At that point I was too confused and befuddled by the movie to be able to write about the movie and make sense. I needed to think about the movie some more, piece together a few things. I'm sure it would help if I saw the movie again now.

CAST

Guy Pearce - Leonard Shelby
Carrie Ann Moss - Natalie
Joe Pantoliano - Teddy
Stephen Tobolowsky - Sammy Jankis

Christopher Nolan - Director

This movie is rated R. It contains some violent scenes. It is not suitable for children. The movie is just under two hours long.

This is a complex, confusing movie. I will do my best to explain the basic plot without telling to much.

Leonard Shelby, the main character of the movie, has a serious problem. He has no short term memory. His wife was raped and murdered. Leonard got into a bit of a scuffle with the attackers, trying to save his wife. He suffered a blow to the head that caused brain damage. His lack of short term memory is a result of that brain damage. He knows who he is and remembers things from his past. He just can't make any new memories. His last memory was of rushing in to try to save his wife. He forgets people he has met before. He forgets what kind of car he has. He forgets things just minutes after they happen. He is determined to track down the men who murdered his wife. He takes pictures of people, places and things he needs to remember with an instant camera. He writes notes. Lots of notes. He tracks down clues and gathers information relating to his wife's murder. He keeps notes of what he learns.

Leonard gets tatoos of the most important information he learns. His body is covered in tatoos relating to his investigation. He meets some people, and is getting some help from a few people, Natalie and Teddy. This would have made the movie interesting enough. A man with no short term memory is playing detective, but there is more to this movie. Another twist. The movie is told backward.

Yes, I said the movie is told backward. Memento has a beginning, middle, and end, they are just shown in reverse order. The ending is shown first and the beginning is shown last. The actual ending of the story - what is shown first in the movie - is shown in a slow motion reverse. Leonard's glasses are on the floor. Then they fall up, back onto his face. Not much of the movie is shown that way, just about a minute. Then the movie jumps back to about 15 minutes before the beginning of the scene that was shown in reverse. I think Leonard was leaving his hotel at the beginning of that scene. This scene shows what leads up to the minute or so that was shown in reverse. That minute or so of the movie is shown again, only not in reverse this time. Then the movie jumps back to a little while before Leonard left his hotel room and shows what leads up to him leaving the room. Once the movie gets to the point where Leonard leaves his hotel room, it jumps back again, to show what happened before the beginning of the scene that just ended. This keeps up throughout the whole movie.

Are you confused yet? That's ok. I am too, and I saw the movie. I was confused through pretty much the whole movie. Just when I thought I was figuring out what was going on in a scene, the movie would jump backwards, befuddling me once again. Just when I thought I couldn't get any more confused, a black and white scene was thrown in. There were several of these black and white scenes in the movie, showing Leonard talking on the phone to someone.

Leonard was telling the person on the phone about his condition, Sammy Jankis, and his investigation. If the movie was shown in the right way, the black and white scenes would have been flashbacks, but since the movie is shown backwards, these scenes are flash forwards. I think. The scenes shown in color are moving backwards in time. The black and white scenes are moving forward. These two sets of scenes intercept near the end of the movie - what would be the beginning if the movie was shown in the right way.

Some people Leonard encounters in the movie think he has amnesia. He doesn't. He knows exactly who he is. He remembers things from his past. He remembers his wife. He remembers the job he had before his accident as an insurance investigator. He tells some things about his past to some of the characters. Some things from his past are shown in other flashbacks. Leonard even remembers one case he worked on, and he tells everyone about that case.

Leonard has a tattoo on his hand that says to remember Sammy Jankis. Sammy was one of the cases Leonard worked on. There is a bit of irony in this. Sammy and his wife were in a car accident. Sammy hit his head, and no longer had any short term memory. Leonard worked for Sammy's insurance company and was investigating Sammy's condition to determine if it was faked. Leonard didn't prove that Sammy was faking, but through some tests, it was proved that there was no physical cause for Sammy's condition. They said it was all mental. The insurance company wouldn't pay the claim. Leonard seemed to have some doubts about Sammy's condition. That is what is ironic. He had to investigate someone else who had no short term memory. He had doubts about if the condition was real. Then, through some strange twist of fate, Leonard ends up with the same condition. Leonard says that he can live with his condition. He keeps order with his notes, tattoos, and pictures. Leonard says that Sammy couldn't function with the condition because he had no order. Leonard could remember Sammy because those memories were from before the accident.

By showing the movie backwards, the viewer is kept as confused as Leonard. Well, almost as confused as Leonard since the viewer can remember things. The viewer is kept in the dark about what is going on, and who the people Leonard comes into contact with. During the movie, I would wonder how Leonard got to wherever he was, or why something was happening. Then the movie jumped backward again and I would see understand. It was like a light bulb going off in my mind, or the fog lifting. It does take a little while to get used to the way this movie is shown. It was very jarring to me at first how the movie would jump backwards, especially if I was starting to figure something out. There is a lot of suspense in this movie, mainly because it is shown backwards. The movie wouldn't have been as suspenseful if it had been shown the right way. The viewer would know more of what was going on, and why things were happening if the movie was shown the right way. There would have been some suspense, but not nearly as much, unless a few scenes were reworked someway.

At the beginning of some of the scenes, Leonard wouldn't know where he was or why he was there. The viewer wouldn't know either, so for a little while, the viewer experiences some of what Leonard goes through in dealing with the symptoms of his condition. Leonard would be wondering where he was and what was going on. Then he would start noticing his tattoos, finding his notes, and he would piece together what he was doing. For a few minutes anyway. During some of the scenes, I wasn't that lost in what was going on, but there were some scenes that I didn't understand until later in the movie, if at all.

I still haven't figured out why Leonard did some things. I have managed to figure out a few things since I saw the movie and I've had a chance to think about the movie, but I'm still puzzled by other things. The twists and turns in this movie really make you think, which you had to do to figure out what is going on. You really need to pay attention when watching this movie or you will get completely lost and have no clue about what is going on.

There were just a few minor things that bugged me about this movie - other than it being the most confusing movie I have ever seen. Leonard can't make any new memories. That is one of the big symptoms of his condition. So then how, whenever he woke up or realized that he didn't know where he was, did he know to check his jacket pocket for pictures? How did he know there would be pictures in the pocket? For that matter, how did he remember to put the new pictures in the pocket? From the few flashbacks that were shown of Leonard before the accident, he didn't go around with notes and pictures in his pocket all the time, so how could he remember to do that after the accident, when he no longer had any short term memory? I haven't been able to figure out how he knew to do that.

Leonard also manages to remember his condition. I think I figured out how he remembered that though. He has the tattoo on his hand that says to remember Sammy Jankis. Once Leonard saw the tattoo, he would remember Sammy and his condition. I think that by remember what was wrong with Sammy, Leonard figured out what was wrong with himself.

The other thing that bugged me is really minor. It is more of a continuity thing I guess. In my first draft of this review, I described what bugged me in the way it was shown in the movie, backwards. Well, I ended up with a description that was so messed up, it confused me so much that I didn't know what I was talking about anymore. And I was writing it. So, I'm not going to subject anyone else to reading that confusing jumble. I'm going to describe this as if the scene was shown going forward, like a normal movie. Leonard is driving along when a truck pulls in behind him, beeping the horn and flashing lights. Leonard pulls off the road and parks. There is a concrete wall in front of his car. The truck pulls up behind his car, so Leonard's car is blocked in. The guy driving the truck gets out and goes up to Leonard's car. A few other things happen in this scene - I'm not saying what, I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Leonard returns to his car, backs out and is on his way to his next destination. The truck was gone, no longer blocking him in, but the driver of the truck had not moved it during the scene. He was busy doing something else. So where did the truck go?

Leonard is the main character in the movie. Things about his past, before the accident, are revealed throughout the movie in flashbacks. His character is pretty well developed since he is the main focus of the movie. There are other characters in the movie, but not as much is know about them since they aren't in much of the movie. When Teddy and Natalie first appeared in the movie, I had no idea who they were, how Leonard met them, or what they were doing in the movie. The viewer is left in the dark about the characters are what they are up to. Leonard also encounters some other people during the movie, like the guy that works at the hotel that was charging Leonard for two rooms. There are a few other people Leonard comes into contact with, but I can't remember their names now.

The acting was very good in Memento. Guy Pearce was very believable as Leonard. I have only seen Carrie Ann Moss in one movie before, The Matrix. Her role as Natalie in Memento is a bit different from her role as Trinity and she pulls it off well. I was left wondering just what Natalie was up to more than once. Joe Pantoliano - I hope I spelled his name right - was great as Teddy. This character was different from others I have seen him play, but he did it great. I can't image who else could play Teddy.

CHARACTERS

Leonard Shelby - He has no short term memory. He received a blow to the head, resulting in brain damage and the loss of his short term memory when he tried to save his wife from attackers. He relies on notes and pictures to keep track of things. He can remember things for only a few minutes. His wife was murdered, and he is trying to track down her killers. He is gathering clues and information. When he finds an important clue, he has it tattooed somewhere on his body. He can remember things about his life before the accident. He doesn't like to be called Lenny. His wife used to call him that. I'm not sure if he doesn't like to be called Lenny because she called him that, or if he never liked being called Lenny.

Natalie - A woman that is helping Leonard for some reason. She tracks down some information for Leonard. She also lost someone close to her.

Teddy - Man who seems to be helping Leonard. He is always popping up. He seems concerned about Leonard's car and his suit.

DVD EXTRAS

The movie was in the wide screen format on the DVD.

There was a commentary on the DVD, but I didn't listen to that - maybe I would understand a few more things if I had. I can't remember now who did the commentary. I didn't get a chance to check out all the extras on this DVD. I think there were a few deleted scenes, but I can't remember for sure since I didn't go check them out.

This is a very confusing movie, but it is good. It makes you think. Memento is the most original movie I have seen in a very long time. It is worth watching, if you don't mind watching a movie backward, and don't mind being completely confused. If you are looking for a light hearted, mindless movie, this is not the movie for you. If you hate movies that make you really think, then you should probably avoid this one.

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age