Memento

Rating:
Summary: Ludicrous ...
Review: The premise is simply not believable. The idea that tattoos and notes on Polaroid pictures could be an adequate information storage and retrieval mechanism for carrying out even the simplest of daily tasks is hardly worth dispelling, but after noting 10 or 20 instances in the first hour of the movie in which the protagonist generated "new" memory I stopped watching. Running the plot backward in time adds eccentricity and confusion, but little else to the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Original, Dark and Disturbed
Review: Those are the three best words to describe this movie. It's the first time I've ever been on the edge of my seat for a movie that starts at the end! Guy Pearce gives a fantastic performance and the rest of the cast off his torment perfectly. I felt very drained by the time the end credits rolled....or are they beginning credits??

Rating:
Summary: you must pay close attention
Review: This movie is so complex that while I was watching it and my husband asked me a question, it was like I was waking from a deep sleep-- I was so engrossed in what was happening that I was completely unaware of my surroundings. The effect of the narration jumping back & forth in time is that you feel as confused as the protagonist-- you think "what the heck?" as you go along, only to figure it out as you go. In the end, you feel saddened by the way the people who the protagonist comes to rely upon use him for their own reasons. What a fascinating concept-- no short term memory!

Rating:
Summary: Best thriller of 2001.....2000.....1999.....1998....1997....
Review: NOTE: Written August 2001

Though 2001 is far from over, it's not to early to say that Memento is one of the Top Ten movies of the year. This outstanding suspense thriller gets just about everything right. It's stylish, tricky, clever and intriguing. It's the kind of movie that makes you think, leaves you guessing and causes you to debate it with the people you watched it with. If it has a fault, it's that it pays no mind to the modern phenomenon of limited attention spans. Pay attention or be lost.

The movie opens with a shot of a hand waving a Polaroid snapshot. But, wait a minute! This photo isn't coming into focus, it's fading away. We are going backwards. Each scene shows what happened before the preceding scene. Because of the marvelous way it is edited, it isn't that hard to follow. The result is not so much one of confusion as it is one that demonstrates how tricky memory can be.

The protagonist, Leonard [Guy Pearce], has anterograde memory loss, which is a condition that makes it impossible to make new memories. This condition is the result an injury he received on the night his wife was brutally murdered. He attempted to save her, or that's the way he remembers it. Now he is on a quest to find her killer. This is an almost impossible task for him. If he meets someone, he won't remember doing so ten minutes later. If someone talks to him too long, he won't remember the first of the conversation. It makes him easy to victimize, and, along the way, he meets several characters who do just that. At the same time, we slowly begin to wonder if Leonard is, in fact, a victim. There is something not quite right with his story.

Leonard's long term memory is perfectly intact. He remember everything from before the injury. He has a methodical personality and uses all sorts of tricks to help him remember things now. He constantly writes notes. He uses Polaroids to remind him of who he has met and where he has been. He even goes so far as to have pertinent facts tattooed on this body, so that when he wakes up every morning, he will remember his mission. It is important to note that Leonard isn't looking for justice. He's seeking revenge.

Guy Pearce is stunning as Leonard. His role is much more difficult than he makes it appear to be because he must create in us empathy and understanding for a character who, because of his condition, basically has no personality we can relate to. How do you relate to someone who never remembers he's ever met you? A bond could never exist. Yet Pearce does make us care about Leonard.

This is director Christopher Nolan's second film. His first, which was shot on video and is in black and white, is so obscure you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who's seen it. After Memento, be promises to be a very recognizable creative talent.

There is something reassuring to me about this movie's success. [People] have voted Memento number eleven on [a] site's list of best movies ever made. While I might not rank it that high on my own list, the important point is that, of the 12,000 plus votes cast, about half came from people under twenty-five years old. This group rated it even higher than older voters. The fact that all those kids can be so impressed by a literate, intelligent movie that has no special effects and no pop music soundtrack is something that others in Hollywood should pay attention to. Perhaps the business would be well served by more movies that challenge their audiences.

Rating:
Summary: Ignorance is NOT bliss
Review: This movie came as a huge surprise on me in a very positive way. Once in a while there are screenwriters and/or directors who really want to do something extraordinary to impress the viewers of their production. As an example, Groundhog Day had the main character relive the same day over and over again for ages until he finally got the girl of his dreams in the end, and it worked. Fight Club also gave you an intense story where two very different characters slowly evolved to a movie climax rarely seen, because to most people the answer to all the story's conflicts is to unimaginable. A closer example to "Memento" is "The Usual Suspects" from 1994, which gave you a very exciting story set in the criminal underworld run by Kayzer Zose, a man everybody fears but no one knows who he is...a lot like the main character in "Memento."

The story is about insurance investigator Leonard, who suffers from short-term memory loss. Leonard got injured after intervening on his wife's murder. The murderer was still there when Leonard walked in on them, thus the main character ended up with a cracked skull (figuratively speaking).

The movie's opening scene is where most crime stories would end; the main character gets his wife's murderer. The rest of the movie is built upon the fragments of memories that led Leonard getting his guy, in other words this movie is kind of told backwards, starting from the mentioned opening scene and ending where the whole situation actually begun... sound confusing? Well, I was confused for about fifteen minutes but once I understood what was going on the rest was just pure genius. At one point I asked myself: "How can a story told backwards actually get more exciting by the minute?" As much as I would give you some information about this, you really have to see the movie for yourself to actually understand what a gem this really is. The tension curve is always rising, with an ending so surprisingly good that this movie is up there with stunners like aforementioned "The Usual Suspects" and "Fight Club."

This is a totally unmissable movie for lovers of the crime/mystery genre.

Rating:
Summary: i belive it may be the best film i've ever seen
Review: imagine this buy the time you finish reading this sentence you will have forgotten why your even sitting at your computer.this is what Guy Pearce character is like all through this movie,he suffers from a type of memory loss due to a tragic accident.this memory defect only prevents him from remembering what happens now,everything before the accident he does remember.the movie involves him trying to find out who attacked him and killed his wife...i'm not givin nothin else up,oh i will tell you this the movie plays backwards,its hard to descibe but it relly draws you into the film making you fill part of the story as lost as the main character but picture this you suffer from this condition which only ables you to remember for a quick minute, a man calls you tells you the mans name who killed your wife all you have to do is remember the information he is telling you case closed you are drasticly looking for a pencil to right down the killers name when all of the sudden the man on the phone is gone you keep saying...remember..remeber all the sudden your dog lets out a bark..as you turn to your dog you forget you had even spoken to someone on the phone much less someone who had told you the killers identity.frustraiting heh.The director Christopher Nolan is the greatest screenwriter in hollywood,now also on my top directors list.nothing irritates me more that this film was only nominated for two academy awards(screenwriter and editing)which should win hands down but what about best diretor or best film they would definately be my choice this year.anyway if you only watch one movie in your entire life watch this one

Rating:
Summary: Original story told in an original way
Review: Although this movie does have a lot of twists and turns, I feel that each plot movement is essential to the development of the main character and is plausible, if the viewer can accept his mysterious "condition". I was so engrossed by the unfolding of the story, I never felt betrayed or manipulated by the plot, (unlike Unbreakable, the ending of which I found to be heavy-handed and coarse). I understand that this is a love-it or hate-it movie, so I'll only recommend it to viewers who like a little science fiction, enjoy psychological thrillers, enjoy mystery, and aren't impatient. People who love the little details will get a kick out of this film; there are tons of little things to wonder about as the storyline progresses backward: how did he get the scratches on his face, what's written under the scratch-out on the back of Natalie's photo, who's Sammy? People who need plot fed to them with a spoon might not like this picture because of its jarring movements back and forth in time, but those with patience and imagination will find this an intriguing film to be viewed over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: That was an option I hadn't thought of!
Review: I loved the way the movie was made. The sequence of scenes is generally in reverse exept the black/white parts where the story of Sammy Jankis is told. There are no tearjerking attempts made & the actors are shown for what they represent nothing more or less.
It does take about 30 minutes to get grabbed by the story.
The ending (beginning) just was not something one thinks of but really is when reflecting upon the movie the most plausible option left.
Truly amazing storytelling.

Rating:
Summary: otnemem
Review: I was lucky enough to have seen this movie without any prior knowledge as to what it is about. My opinion is the less you know about this film the more enjoyable it is in solving the riddles. So if you haven't seen it stop reading this review and go watch the movie.
The movies main theme consist of perceptions vs. reality and how the two only briefly come into contact with one another. Our protagonist Lenny, played excellently by Guy Pierce, has a peculiar memory lose condition, and we are forced to relate to his inability (and unwillingness) to face what he already subconsciously knows. But we don't know that at the time and neither does he. Confusing, I know.
In order to give the viewer a sense of Lenny's (he hates it when you call him that) confusion over his memory condition the film is played backwards so that in each scene we are confronted with no memory of the preceding events, left only with clues that must be put together.
We journey with Lenny the investigator and try to put the pieces together but he ultimately leaves out a key element: his own motives for not wanting to know the truth. The reason for this is that Lenny instinctively knows that even a terrible purpose is better than no purpose at all, and should he solve the mystery he will be left as a mindless mental patient.
Basically Lenny, with the help of "Teddy", are building a mystery using the truth as model for their deceptions.
The black and white scenes give the movie a truly nice touch that threw cleverly threw me off the scent.
The DVD also has an excellent bonus, the original short story that the movie was based on. A must for all fans of this classic movie.

Rating:
Summary: Clever Concept Loses Steam Towards the End
Review: MEMENTO's use of a reverse narrative structure to tell a murder mystery is very clever. As time goes on, the novelty of it all starts to wear at bit thin. However, don't let that discourage you from seeing this film. The performances are generally good and the piece is often quite engaging.