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Memento (2001)
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Genre: |
Crime/Drama |
Director: |
Christopher Nolan
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Rating: |
R |
Running Time: |
113 Minutes |
Release Date: |
March 16, 2001 |
Official Website: |
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Movie Trailer: |
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Discuss and vote: |
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Cast: |
Guy Pearce
Carrie-Anne Moss
Joe Pantoliano
Stephen Tobolowsky
Harriet Sansom Harris
Callum Keith Rennie
Jorja Fox
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Pickup Line: A movie you'll never forget
Quickie: A man who has lost his short-term memory goes on a mad (and backwards) hunt for the killer who raped and murdered his wife. Huh? Wha?! I don't remember what I just typed.
The Long Review:
"Memento" is a movie that makes you go "Ooooh," "Aaaah,' and "Huh?! Again?!" throughout its course. A film that progresses backwards (does that make sense??), it tells the story of Leonard Shelby, a former insurance investigator who has dedicated the rest of his life to avenging the rape and murder of his wife (Jorja Fox). Sounds simple enough, right? There's a catch: He has lost the ability to make new memories because of an injury. So basically, he has to write down everything new he discovers so that he'll remember it half a minute later. Helping him catch the culprit are Teddy (Joe Palantonio), a friend who reminds him of (and sometimes deters him from) relevant details and Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), a barmaid who hooks him up with critical information. Is Teddy a good guy? A bad guy? What about Natalie? Who's the killer? Who's your daddy? Ooooh...questions, questions, and even more questions!
The audience is subjected to an intriguing, engaging phenomenon; it is so interesting to watch a man go about his day in such an organized fashion, he would make the most obsessive-compulsive person on the planet look sloppy, on a quest to kill a killer. Watching the film is a treat in a sense that a mystery is unraveled right before your eyes. There's some satisfaction to be derived from learning how things happened and came to be. You feel like an investigator yourself, putting together the scattered pieces set before you.
The only downfall is that you see the same scenes over and over again as the film shows you retrospectively how events progressed. Basically, if you ever wondered how a short story could be made into a 2-hour movie, "Memento" is your answer. We're pretty sure the movie could have done without a half-hour's worth of scenes. It eventually dragged on way too much for comfort. The director just got a bit too let's-show-that- scene-again-happy. Too much deja-vu can be bad for a person, you know?
However, in this unforgettable movie, the good definitely outweighs the bad. It boasts of a strong cast. Guy Pearce portrays his role with the perfect blend of calculated patience, pent-up frustration, fierce determination, and undying devotion. Joe Palantonio effectively makes us wonder just exactly where he stands; the dubious light he shines on his character gives the plot a great dangerous touch. And Carrie-Anne Moss bestows her character with a duality that also adds a bit of doubt regarding her motives.
Overall, "Memento" is a good movie with a unique premise that is effectively conveyed through sound acting, intelligent dialogue, and an apt sequence. Yes, some people may be confused by its backwards progression; some may be discouraged by its slowness and repetitiveness. But we guess that's the whole meaning of adapting written word to the silver screen: It tells it like it is.
In Two Minutes:
Did you know?
- Carrie-Anne Moss has been exploring a wide range of roles lately. She was last seen in "Chocolat" as an uptight, repressed mother figure. In "Memento," she's a skinny, dirty barmaid. She's come a long way from Trinity, huh?
- Aside from being a commendable actor, Guy Pearce is also quite the talented musican. He's written hundreds of songs and some of them were featured in "The Hunting."
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