Spoilers: You're not getting it: Leonard's memory loss in not biological

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2001)

This is the kind of film that people want to pick apart, because of its gimmick, and a lot of the posts are revelling in their revealing of mistakes in regard to Leonard's memory ("How could he remember blah blah" or "Why didn't he blah blah"). The problem is, they're missing the point of Teddy's revelation at the end of the movie. Leonard is insane, not brain damaged. He is like Sammy, the Sammy of both Leonard and Teddy's experience: he does not have a physical disability (like the Sammy of Leonard's experience) AND he is "faking it" (like the Sammy of Teddy's experience). Leonard is insane. His mind is playing tricks on him; he can remember, he simply choses not to. That is the power of this film, the haunting quality of his refusal to knowledge it when Teddy tells him, thus, finally, spiralling off into complete madness.
Yes, he could record things better, but he doesn't; he doesn't need to. He remembers, so tracking things acurately isn't really what its about. Not recording things well is part of the madness of his delusions. He harps about Sammy's bad habit of writing notes, getting confused, but this is what he largely does. Also, in regard to calendars, know, he doesn't keep one, because he doesn't want to: he wants to be lost in the same repititious day, again and again reenacting his revenge, a revenge, as he himself caused his wife's death, is being meted out upon himself and his sanity.