A Risk That Paid Off

Rating: 8/10 (18 June 2013)

Every now and then you come across a movie where you are almost literally glued to the screen. This is basically what happened when I watched Memento. I went into this movie dry. I didn't know much about it other than it is about a man with memory loss and he tries to avenge his wife. That is basically the story but it sort of plays backwards. I watched this movie on recommendation by a few friends and when I heard Christopher Nolan was involved I was sold. Without further ado here is Memento.
Like I said the story is kind of backwards. The movie starts with a lot of confusion but as the scenes progress a few questions get answered with even more questions. The big overall question is, who killed Leonard wife and who is responsible for the situation he is in? Leonard is a husband out for revenge but has severe short term memory loss. We are introduced to a lot in the first few scenes including Trinity form the Matrix and the bald guy from Baby's Day Out.
As the story unfoldswe understand their importance and the story slowly starts to makesense. The only flaw I see in the movie is that it really drags and thebeginning is very slow. I wanted to watch the entire movie but it took me a little while to get into it and really into the story. To make it even worse I paused it to go to the bathroom and before I did I thought the movie would be wrapping up soon. Little did I know I was only about an hour into it with a little over an hour left. I did enjoy the movie once I got into it but it felt like I was watching it for six hours. The characters themselves were nothing short of hit or miss. The unpredictability of them was what I enjoyed the most. Leonard was a little bland but it made sense because he was always confused. Obviously he was confused because he suffers from memory loss so his simplicity was expected. He has tattoos all over his body and writes things down on pictures so he remembers what happened the day before. It is really a brilliant idea and we see the severity of his obsession on finding the man responsible for everything. Natalie started out as a really strong character I really enjoyed but there was one scene where I really didn't expect her to do what she did. That was where she takes advantage of Lenny. It was really unexpected but I thought that whole scene was great and it made the story that much clearer. My favorite character in the entire movie is Teddy. I love the actor, I think he is very underrated but fits best as a secondary role rather than a star. His actions are unclear because on the back of his photo it says "don't believe his lies" so his intentions are unclear. It is another huge question throughout the movie. He randomly appears everywhere always advising Lenny to leave town. He is always involved in some way and he does an amazing job in dragging me into the story. Once I got into the story I was stuck in place and I wasn't going anywhere. Throughout the story there are a bunch of scenes in black and white where Leonard is on the phone telling a story about Sammy. The big question in my mind is how it was relevant to the story but I liked those scenes a lot better than any others. Maybe I liked the psychological aspect of memory loss and in these scenes we dive deep into the condition and the character of Leonard himself. This is where he shows his colors as a normal person and the type of man he was. If you see this movie and are bored with the chain of events and how it constantly backtracks take my advice, stick with it. The ending to this movie is mind blowing and what I really love about movies. Movies can play with your mind and make you believe one thing so strongly then completely switch it up in a matter of minutes. The final scenes to this movie answer everything and it all makes sense. We see the true intentions of each character and we get resolution in the story and it was very satisfying. I was thinking how I would have liked to see everything in order but if I did I probably would have hated the movie. Overall, Memento is a unique movie with an interesting enough premise to make me sit though the drag of the first act. I loved the black and white affect and the writing of the story. Christopher Nolan was involved so I had high hopes and he did not disappoint. The characters were good for the most part. I would have liked to see a little more form a few but the movie dragged enough as it was. The second act was a lot better than the first and the third blew me away. The acting was good for the most part, no Oscar worthy performances but it did get the job done. The ending did save this movie from being a wreck because if that failed then all the events prior would have been for nothing and a waste of time. Memento gets the WillyT Recommendation for its uniqueness and originality. The risk taken in the movie did pull off and is something I could easily watch again and probably should so I can make sense if it completely.