Memento

Plot synopsis:
This is a complex story about Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a man whose ability to make new memories is damaged when he is struck in the head while confronting two people who are attacking his wife (Jorja Fox) at their home in the middle of the night. He kills one of the attackers during the attack and one of the last things Leonard remembers is his wife dying. He devotes his life to finding and killing the second attacker.The movie alternates between color and black and white sequences. The black and white sequences proceed in chronological order, while the color sequences proceed in reverse chronological order. The forward black and white scenes and the reverse color scenes alternate until they meet in the middle of the story at the end of the film.In the two disc DVD set, the second disc contains the movie in chronological order. To play this version of the movie: (1) select the clock icon; (2) select the answer "C" to every multiple choice question; and (3) arrange the tire changing steps in reverse chronological order (3-4-1-2). The movie begins to play with the credits first -- in backward order. Some functions (fast forward, chapter skip, etc.) are disabled.This synopsis describes the scenes in chronological order. It is not the plot order presented in the film.The story starts in black and white. Leonard Shelby wakes up in a room at the Discount Inn puzzled as to why he is there. The phone rings and he speaks with an unknown caller. He tells the caller that he suffers from anterograde amnesia, a condition which makes him unable to create new memories. He describes the condition by detailing the story of Sammy Jankis (Stephen Tobolowsky), who had the same problem.Leonard describes how one must have a system of notes to deal with the problems and a drive to use them. Leonard says he has the drive that Sammy never had and the viewer sees Leonard's tattoo: "JOHN G. RAPED AND MURDERED MY WIFE" as well as other clues and notes tattooed on his body.Leonard continues the story and explains that he had just become an insurance investigator when he met Sammy and was assigned to determine whether his condition was covered by his insurance policy. Sammy's condition was not like other cases of anterograde amnesia in that Sammy was unable to learn through conditioning. After additional testing, Leonard says he concluded that Sammy's condition was psychological and the claim was denied because Sammy was not covered for mental illness.Leonard explains how Mrs. Jankis (Harriet Sansom Harris) met privately with him. In trying to placate her, Leonard told her that Sammy should be able to make new memories. She tested Sammy's memory by repeatedly asking him to give her insulin injections. She lapsed into a coma and never recovered from the overdose. Sammy was then confined to a mental institution.During this conversation, the caller and Leonard talk about Leonard's quest and how the police did not believe the story about the second attacker. The caller identifies himself as a policeman and provides Leonard with additional clues for his quest. Leonard tattoos the fact the second attacker was a drug dealer. The caller identifies the second attacker as Jimmy Grantz and tells Leonard that he has set up a meeting with Jimmy. Leonard agrees to meet the caller in the motel lobby.In the lobby, Leonard meets a man (Joe Pantoliano) and asks him if he is Officer Gammell. The man insists that Leonard should call him Teddy since he is undercover. Teddy gives Leonard directions to the meeting location and Leonard goes to meet Jimmy at an abandoned building outside of town.When Jimmy Grantz (Larry Holden) arrives, he recognizes Leonard as the man with the memory condition, demands to know what Leonard is doing there, and asks where Teddy is. Leonard threatens Jimmy with a tire iron and tells him to strip. Jimmy pleads for his life and tells Leonard that there is $200,000 in the trunk of his car for payment of the drugs that Teddy was to have brought to the meeting. Leonard strangles Jimmy, takes a Polaroid photo of his body, and starts putting on Jimmy's clothes. As the photo of Jimmy's body develops, the film gradually goes from black and white into color.The remaining story is in color, but proceeds in the film in reverse order.As Leonard drags Jimmy into the basement, he hears Jimmy whisper "Sammy..." before dying. Leonard concludes that if Jimmy knew about Sammy, he was not the second attacker.Teddy arrives at the scene and tries to convince Leonard that Jimmy was the man he was after. Leonard does not believe him. Teddy finally admits that Jimmy Grantz was a drug dealer who did not have anything to do with his wife's killing. Teddy then tells Leonard that his wife survived the attack. According to Teddy, Sammy Jankis was a fraud who was not even married and it was Leonard's wife who was diabetic. Teddy claims to be the police officer who investigated his wife's murder. He says he believed him about the second attacker and helped him track down and kill the real John G. more than a year ago. Teddy claims that he took a picture of a happy Leonard right after the second attacker was dead. Leonard forgot the killing and began searching for the dead John G. all over again. Teddy tells Leonard there are plenty of John Gs to find and admits that he is even a John G: his full name is John Edward Gammell and his mother calls him Teddy.Before Lenny can forget Teddy's revelations, he decides to continue the hunt, lying to himself to set himself up to kill Teddy. He puts a note on Teddy's photo saying "Don't believe his lies," records Teddy's license plate number as John G's, and leaves himself a reminder to get a tattoo of the plate number, SG137IU. Leonard ditches Teddy by throwing Teddy's car keys into some weeds. Leonard then leaves his pickup truck at the refinery and drives away in Jimmy's Jaguar, still wearing Jimmy's clothes.After forgetting Teddy's revelations and the lies to himself, Leonard finds a tattoo parlor and has the license plate number tatooed onto his leg. Teddy sees the Jaguar parked outside and comes in, trying to move the car and get Lenny to get out of town in some new clothes. Leonard sees the note on the back of Teddy's pictures and decides to leave without him.Leonard finds a note in the pocket of Jimmy's suit coat, which he is wearing. The note is from a Natalie telling Jimmy to come to Ferdy's bar. Not realizing he is wearing Jimmy's clothes and driving Jimmy's car, Leonard thinks the note is for him and goes to meet Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss). He tells her about his condition. Natalie believes his story after a test.Natalie takes Leonard to her home and tells him he can stay with her. Leonard recounts what he remembers of the attack. He says he awoke to sounds, got a gun, and found his wife being strangled. Leonard shot one intruder, but a second man clubbed him with a sap and smashed his head into a mirror. He goes on to explain that the cops did not believe there was a second attacker. Leonard tells Natalie that the second attacker was too smart and left the evidence to look like there was only one intruder.Natalie tricks Leonard into going after a man named Dodd (Callum Keith Rennie), who she claims has been harassing her for the money from Jimmy's prior drug deals. Leonard leaves to look for Dodd. Teddy is waiting for him as he leaves Natalie's home. Teddy tries to warn Leonard about Natalie, but after seeing the "Don't believe his lies" note on Teddy's picture, Leonard does not believe him. Leonard does decide he shouldn't stay with Natalie and follows Teddy's advice to go to the Discount Inn.Leonard goes to the Discount Inn. Though Leonard has already paid for a room, Burt (Mark Boone Junior) at the front desk takes advantage of his condition by renting him a second room. Leonard calls an escort service. When the escort arrives, Leonard explains to her that he wants only to relive going to sleep the night of the attack. After falling asleep, the escort wakes him. He asks the escort to leave. He then takes personal items belonging to his wife to a reservoir and burns them.In the morning, Leonard leaves the reservoir and is spotted by Dodd. Leonard escapes Dodd and goes to Dodd's motel to wait for him. When Dodd returns to his motel room, Leonard beats him and ties him up. Leonard calls Teddy for help in dealing with Dodd. Teddy comes to Dodd's motel room. Leonard and Teddy convince Dodd to leave town.Returning the favor of getting rid of Dodd, Leonard spends the night at Natalie's. In the morning she agrees to trace the license plate number tatooed on Leonard's leg. Later that day, Natalie gives him the information along with directions to "an abandoned place outside of town" where a guy she knew "used to do bigger deals". Leonard takes it back to his motel. At the motel, Leonard puts the clues together and concludes that Teddy is John Edward Gammell and must be the second attacker. He calls Teddy and they go to the same abandoned building where Jimmy Grantz was killed a few days earlier. Leonard shoots Teddy in the head.

Tags: dark, avant garde, suspenseful, murder, neo noir, boring, bleak, realism, cult, violence, psychological, plot twist, flashback, mystery, revenge, storytelling

Review:
The story and the direction are the best I've seen so far this year, and it deserves all the kudos it gets.Plainly put, the film tells the story of Leonard Shelby:  a man who lost his short term memory in an assault where his wife was raped and murdered;  now he's looking for the killer, despite his handicap.
You don't need to know anymore.The film is constructed and told in such a way that you are constantly put into the shoes of Leonard Shelby, beautifully played by Guy Pierce.
Christopher Nolan's "Memento" is truly a rare and exceptional achievement in modern filmmaking in that it manages to be new, fresh, hip, and exciting without ever tiring its audience out - unless you're walking into this film without the desire to participate and actively analyze the mysterious details.If that's the case, then this is DEFINITELY not a movie you should see.
"Memento" is an old-fashioned "film noir"-type mystery thriller with an intriguing, ingenious twist: outfitting the entire film with a style that mirrors the protagonist's own mental condition while giving the poor viewer(s) his own perspective as well.
It is masterfully filmed and edited in such a way that it is chronologically presented backwards (with two initially separate, parallel storylines - the main one, shot in colour, is the chronologically-backwards story with scenes that intercut with those of the other story, which is filmed more like a documentary, shot in black & white, and mostly takes place inside a motel room with the main character narrating, talking about the effects of his condition, etc.) While the average viewer may already be put off by such a complicated, confusing format, it is a very original premise that is well worth the struggle to figure out.Acting is solid across the board, as is the writing, directing, etc., but special kudos must be extended to the very talented editor Dody Dorn, who successfully managed to put all of these fragments together and help them flow in a smooth, healthy manner that is not easy to pull off.One of the most "memorable" (sorry, couldn't help slipping in the bad joke) films you're likely to ever see, "Memento" is an instant classic due to its groundbreaking narrative style and impressive dramatic undertones.
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.
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.
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.
Although he can recall details of life before his accident' Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he is, where he is going, or why.Christopher Nolan has made one great (but confusing) movie.
It also makes the audience feel for a guy like Leonard, whose condition only gets worse and worse as the movie goes on.
Add in the funny role of Burt (Mark Boone Jnr.), the motel clerk, who openly admits to Lenny that he is ripping him off, by giving him two rooms, but that he will not remember it happening anyway.Yet in no way do any of the characters in Memento' realise they are in a time reversed movie.
The way Leonard tries to remember things in the present and the future, via notes tattoos and photographs, making them an important element within the movie.
If the director of this independent film tried to make us feel really confused, like the main character, he did it wonderfully.
Perhaps it didn't caught much attention at first but now it is in an important position at the IMDb top 250 and that means that most the people recognize great movies when they see them.As I said before, this movie is a little confusing because it runs backwards while the black and white scenes run in chronological order.
The film begins where it should end, so far so trite, but here's the beauty, we, like Guy Pearce, learn in fragments what's going on.
Pieces are shown a number of times with no real linear link between them, just like it would be if we ourselves had a memory disorder, and then they are cut up and edited next to things that happen either before or after it.
Its one of the most original films ever made, and for people who scoff at the concept of not having a short-term memory, it actually is a real condition.
In a movie like this, it would be almost impossible to make without leaving some information out; even some of the film's actors were confused and requested a script told in sequence order.
It is one of the most original thrillers to have come from America and it supposedly became popular solely on the basis of word of mouth.Leonard Shelby(Guy Pearce in an excellent performance) is a man who has short term memory loss.
Yes, this movie will make you discuss and argue its meaning.While I believe it could have been better in terms of sequencing, when I look at the progress that Mr. Nolan has made following this film, I can only applaud at his bold approach to Memento as stepping stone.
The acting was first rate, the story decent, and the film makers did a great job putting it all together.However, I may be crazy, and I'm sure the "film snobs" will grit their teeth at this, but at the end of the day, isn't Memento just a gimmick?
But be honest, if you can tell me with a straight face that Memento is an overall better film than "Apocalypse Now", "A Clockwork Orange", "Pulp Fiction", "Goodfellas", "Fight Club", "Jaws", "Chinatown", "Raiders of The Lost Ark", "American Beauty", "Silence of the Lambs" and a large chunk of the other 230 films ranked below it, than you just need to sit back, take a deep breath, reel in that massive "I'm a nonconformist art-house movie aficionado" thing and get a reality check.
Into it, Nolan pours all the fundamental problems of film, and the fundamental problems of memory that gave rise to film in the first place.It takes about four viewings to get any grip on this film - yet none of these viewings feel wasted in any way, as though the director has played tricks on us - on the contrary, it is the film's bald-face honesty which leaves us in despair of ever getting just the right handle on all the details and the characters.Its hard to understand how Nolan could have betrayed himself and his vision after this film, by selling out to Hollywood's highest bidders - hopefully, he'll recover and give us the Christopher Nolan film we should expect after seeing this one.But in any event, this remains one of the most important films ever made - brilliantly written, filmed, acted, edited - a necessary companion piece to Welles' "Citizen Kane" or Eisenstein's "Potemkin" - hopefully, Christopher Nolan will actually direct another film some day.....
It eludes me how this movie has gotten such high ratings and even two Oscar nominations.This movie is for the most part mind-boggling boring, with endless repetitive sequences of how our main character writes notes, tries to remember certain events or persons.
The only positive thing about the movie is a good performance by Carrie Ann Moss, however the main character did not convince me, neither did the plot.
(If there was one, besides of a repetitive line-up of the character's confusion and attempts by him to puzzle together memories.) This movie is breathtakingly boring and the ending *extremely* underwhelming.
On his journey he encounters a number of people who he has to be able to assess at first sight because of his deficiency.The acting by Guy Pearce is very convincing and even appealing but the story however is most of the time way too irritating because you constantly have to backtrack yourself in order to completely understand what's going on.
The fact is, the film is about trying to put you in his shoes, to show you what Leonard must have felt like living with no memory, but you end up feeling nothing at all because he is such a bland character actor.
I would compare this film in some ways to Se7en--except that Se7en does a much better job telling the story (even if the ending wasn't at all surprising).
There is no empathy with Leonard, partly because the film never gives you the chance because it's too busy being clever.Perhaps people will rate it highly, but it is definitely not a Citizen Kane or Casablanca, a movie where you can take it out and watch it over and over again.
However if you feel like watching an almost 2 hour movie with only 45 minutes of film love going from color to black and white with no intentional purpose and like to feel like your mind is stuck in an ipod shuffle with bad 80s music for what feels like hours be my guest and watch this boring pile of garbage just remember i told you so..
I understand that in real life, this condition does allow you to remember some things, but the film makes it clear that the main character remembers nothing.
Movies should be watchable and entertaining, not simply there to win awards so that film nerds can pat each other on the back congratulating their brilliance.If you want writing, character, plot, direction AND complexity, see The Shawshank Redemption or All About Eve. Memento is not the movie for you, and so far its the most overrated movie of the century..
But once I did, I must say I was not extremely thrilled with it as the rest of the world seems to be.It is a brilliant and creative idea of how to make a movie (backward revealing of pieces of the story with every new scene) but unless I missed something, I believe that this is all this film had to offer.
(As it is on IMDB while I write this review)I think it simply receives a lot of praise because it is a movie made in a way that no one has ever seen before.
Maybe it is appealing because it is confusing and people view it as a "smart" film because they can't quite follow totally what it going on and they have to watch it over and over again.
That would certainly be an original idea never seen by movie-goers before, but that doesn't mean it should be voted into a group with The Godfather or Citizen Kane.I'm not saying Memento is like watching an upside-down film from a dog's point of view...
This coupled with sometimes very unconvincing acting by the main actor (although it is a hard role, he never really pulls it off) and a wholly boring plot earns this movie a 7 in my book.If you want to see a real whodunnit type movie that will haunt you for a long time to come, try Thesis by Spanish director Almenabar which I saw last night and save Memento for a day you want to study film rather than enjoy it..
I use these ratings all the time and have found them to be pretty much spot-on how I end up regarding different films...but THIS...I'm not wondering about the movie as so many have commented, I'm wondering about the other reviews.
So overall, it became like who cares after about the first 20 minutes, and no, I don't want to see this movie three or four times just to understand what's going on.So the movie is just a novelty, and I doubt that it will be remembered as any kind of a ground breaking masterpiece even if the ratings are high.
But it is a frustrating and non-rewarding movie that cheats the audience at every step:  a fictitious illness, characters that do things more to startle the audience rather than for a realistic reason, and an ending that is way too predictable and really silly at the same time.
If more movies were made like this, Memento, with its empty story-line and cute direction, would be seen more easily for what it is: mind-numbingly pedestrian schlock.
The payoff is zero, as Leonard Maltin has already suggested, and makes watching a film like this a total waste of time.GUY PEARCE does an okay job in the central role but his talent is totally wasted in a script that is as ungrounded in reality as his character is supposed to be.
The film itself is all style and no substance, as pretentious and manipulating as any film can be that does not respect its audience.JOE PANTOLIANO and CARRIE-ANNE MOSS are competent but their characters are given coarse language full of expletives that should have been directed at the script they were forced to recite rather than inflicted upon a viewer patiently trying to follow a deliberately incomprehensible storyline.
I got the impression that 'Memento' thinks its better than it really is.Overall, a decent and unique thriller, but the rating is misleading and not a true reflection of the quality of the film.
Perhaps, at the end of the movie, they hoped I could have empathy with what it must be like to suffer from the memory condition that this guy has, so they tried to create an environment where my brain is turning itself inside out while trying to understand what's going on.
He has to do this while struggling with short term memory loss meaning he relies on photos of important things and tattooing important facts on his body.As everyone in the world knows the film runs backwards from the end for the majority - meaning that we, like Leonard see events without any knowledge of what has gone before.
But to me that's one of the things to enjoy - the discussion with friends about the film and the fact that it stays with you for weeks after you've watched it.Pearce is excellent in the lead, I cannot believe this guy once was in Neighbours!
What the hell were you people thinking.Plot - Boring, confusing, and I know it goes backwardsActing - not that good, Guy pearce acts the same in every movie he is in, Carrie Anne-Moss can't act, only joe pantanlio acts decently.Overall Value: If you don't like arty-farty movies like this, my advice is DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE!.
Although people may view this as a stupid comment.The entire film is based on a gimmick,yes,there i said it people i mean its basically a simple story done countless times before.A guy is exacting revenge on his enemies for murdering his wife so obviously in the filmmakers mind they had to come up with a cheap gimmick to throw off the viewer and they use this backwards gimmick nonsense that really makes no sense when you look at it by making the main protagonist in the film,a man with short term memory loss who writes on himself,oh how weird is that.The film has average acting,mediocre cinematography but nothing else going for it except a simple story wrapped in a convoluted wannabe virtuoso type film-making.I mean Christopher Nolan is a great director but this is not an outstanding debut like M Night SHyamalan's The Sixth Sense which had a great story,a superb twist and larger than life characters,a scary movie with doses of romance and the physchological horror.Nolan basically rips off Tarantino here with the chronology type film-making.I'm sure some other filmmaker one day will film a similar story like this sideways or some nonsense and it becomes a sensation like the overrated Memento.Besides IMDb rating sucks anyway.This movie would be forgotten eventually.
The tattoo idea is hard to swallow and there's a big storyline goof in the film: during the B&W scenes, when Guy Pearce relates the story about a another couple, with the husband suffering from short term memory lost, I thought, "Now, what are the chances of having two men suffering from STML in one movie?" I thought about this during the first part of the movie and pretty much figured out that what was going to happen in the remainder of the film.
So if you like this movie, go and play planescape torment or you can read its scenario if you don't believe me.By the way, game is older than this film..
One other point that I didn't think was too realistic was how quickly everybody around the main character accepted and adapted to his condition in order to exploit him.All in all its a good film with excellent performances from Pearce and Moss and is different to anything else I've ever seen - 7/10..
I can't believe this film is ranked top 10 all time movies.
The entire film I was thinking "movie, show me something we don't already know." And it never did..
In fact, take away the gimmick and there is no story here worth telling.This is a movie that will be embraced by wannabe film scholars and intellectuals.
Memento has one of the most smart, brilliant and complicated scripts of all time and also the story editing of the film is the same, it must be very hard to make, as known, the story begins from the end and retrogresses, in terms of direction, it is well, but no more than that, so a good movie, a good crime thriller.
MEMENTO is a very strange movie in that the film starts at the very end and works its way backwards towards the beginning.