Brilliant movie told in a brilliant manner

Rating: 8/10 (8 September 2001)

First, about the movie: the way it is told, backwards, is a perfect way to get people drawn into Leonard's condition. You have the same sense as he does of there being no past, just the future. Brilliant techinique, creating a movie that you have to think about. More of this stuff and less standard Hollywood-style braindead entertainment, pleaaase!

******** PLOT SPOILER ********
Me and my girlfriend were kind of miffed at first, since we thought the ending just left things hanging... but when you think about it, it actually makes perfect sense. Our interpretation is that:
Sammy Jenkins did exist, and he did kill his wife. Leonard's condition is real. The reason he knows he has his condition is the tattoo of "remember Sammy Jenkins" on his hand. Always, when he wakes up, he is utterly disoriented.
He did kill the man who killed his wife, maybe a year ago. Teddy helped him do it, probably. Since then, Teddy has been using Leonard as a killing machine, getting rid of people for him.
To give meaning to his life, Leonard refuses to keep the proof that he killed his wife's murderer. With that mission accomplished, he has nothing to live for, and that is too painful. So he keep inventing new clues, moving to new cities, and looking for new John Gs to kill.

If you think about it, why does he just jot down Teddy license plate and get it tattooed on him, instead of just writing "kill him" on the back of Teddy's photo? This way, he ensures that he has something to keep him occupied for the next week or so, as he tracks down Teddy. Probably, he has lived his entire life since the condition began Ã­n this fashion.

He has a routine that is used to keep him going, and that routine rests on hunting for the man who murdered his wife. So he needs to keep that hunt going on. In a way, the movie is about the old question of what keeps a man motivated to stay alive and keep going. When you have no memory to live for, you have to live for tomorrow. And then you need some ultimate goal which cannot be achieved, since once you achieve it, life will be over. It is a very interesting look at the human condition!
Actually, considering other interpretations that say that Leonard and Sammy Jenkins is the same man, that he killed his own wife, and that his condition was mental, does not really matter. In a way, what came before his memory loss is of no importance to the current situation. Look at the movie as a study of a strange mental condition, and you can enjoy it, regardless of the ultimate interpretation of what is going on. After all, the memories are not important, right?