Memento

Rating:
Summary: DO YOU REMEMBER...?
Review: When thrillers where really good? Well here you have Memento, a real jewel which will grab you and keep you on the edge of your seat. It's about a man who can't make new memories and is living the same day all over while trying to find his wife's murderer. He doesn't know who to trust because he can't remember who is friends or who isn't. The film starts at the end and takes us trough his quest for vengance all the way to the begining. At times we feel just as lost as the main character feels, and it's there that we relate to his illness. He writes on little pieces of paper, in his skin, and even tatoos himself to keep some account of what's just happened beacuse his present only lasts a few minutes. His ilness is put to the test when a barmaid offers him a cup of beer where everyone-including himself- have put a little something.
Don't miss it, run don't walk to the video store. A must see-write it on your fore head- rent Memento, rent Memento....

Rating:
Summary: Anyone have DVD reprogramming tips?
Review: I loved "Memento" the first time I saw it in the theater, and I was looking forward to getting the DVD to watch it reverse chronology, or the "right" way. But when I tried to program my DVD player to do this, I found it was impossible: The black and white scenes aren't separated out from the color, so you can't program them separately. And since the black-and-white scenes are in forward chronology while the color scenes are in reverse, well, there's just no way to do it correctly.

Then again, I'm pretty new to the DVD world, and maybe I'm missing something here. Does anyone have any pointers on how to program the DVD's 19 scenes so I can watch it in the reverse order? From what I can tell it can't be done, but maybe I'm off...

Rating:
Summary: Memento pulls you in, minute by minute
Review: Memento is one of the most captivating movies I have ever seen. I ran across it while channel surfing the cable movie channels, and was pulled in immediately. Conceptually, a movie that moves backward in time sounds contrived and very difficult to pull off. Memento pulls it off beautifully with strong performances from the three key actors, Guy Pearce, Carrie Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano.

Memento is my favorite movie from 2001!!!

Rating:
Summary: This is a fascinating movie
Review: I feel sorry for those who didn't get this wonderful film! You missed out on an exhilirating and intellectually stimulating ride! I don't think many "got" the purpose of the movie's unorthodox presentation and that's a problem for them. You see the reason the events are show in reverse chronological order is that we need to see things from the protagonist's (Leonard Shelby-fantastically portrayed by the able Guy Pearce in a role that should have garnered an Oscar nom IMO) point of view. We need to experience the same confusion he's having as he desperately looks for clues on who ..murdered his wife. Why is that necessary?? Because the full impact of the truth that's revealed about his quest WON'T hit you as hard. Therefore the emotional connection to Leonard that you could have had will have been lost. It's a shame some don't get it. This movie is so much fun to dissect and discuss and reflect on the relationship of memory to our personalities. I have never found myself so immersed in a character or a film as I was with Leonard Shelby and "Memento" Congratulations to all involved in the making of this fabulous film-noir thriller-it is the masterpiece it's been so rightfully called!

Rating:
Summary: Pthtphthpththt (raspberry sound)
Review: I had the same reaction to the ending of this film as I did to "The Usual Suspects" --- disappointment, the type of disappointment you get when you know you've been fleeced. Except this film started to fall apart for me much sooner than "The Usual Suspects" did --- but, hey, I was younger then & if I was to watch TUS for the first time now, I'm sure things in that film would fall apart for me earlier on now than they did then ---- at least I'd hope so.

This film is too taken with its own cleverness. And, gosh, is it repetitive!!

Save yourself the disappointment and wait for the rerun of that Seinfeld episode where they basically run the story in reverse --- the one where they go to India for a wedding and backtrack the story from there. . . . . . That Seinfeld episode, annoying as it was, is much less so than Memento, and at least compensates you with the occasional laugh. Memento doesn't.

In Sum: My poor wittle conventional mind doewsn't wikey all wof this thinking outside the box. Da pain wof a new idea was too much for mwy wittle head to take. :)

A suitable alternative to this (and "The Usual Suspects") --- ? Try "Twelve Monkeys" ---- a much more philosophically interesting and satisfying film.

Rating:
Summary: Best film of 2001
Review: As of this writing, the subject of this review, Memento, is probably the best film of 2001.

Leonard Shelby has a rare form of short-term amnesia; he can't form new memories. The only thing he does remember is everything in his life up to the night his wife was raped and killed by an anonymous assailant who gave Leonard the head injury that caused his condition. Now Leonard is obsessed with finding him, despite his handicap. He writes notes to himself, takes pictures of important people and places, and even tattoos important facts on his body. He will not give up, even as he wakes up every day not knowing what happened the day before.

With a premise like the one written above, do you really need to read the rest of this review to convince yourself that you simply must go see this movie? The possibilities for great suspense and mystery should be obvious from the premise just given. Memento has the perfect concept for a wonderful mystery, and takes advantage of it through the structure, which is unique, engaging, and central to the film's method of bringing the viewer in. One of the important questions for the film would be, How can it tell the story in an interesting way, and at the same time let us in on Leonard Shelby's world? How can it give us an idea of what it's like to be him? All these questions are solved in one fell swoop with the help of a great, non-linear plot structure.

The film starts with a memorable image: a Polaroid being developed backwards, eventually being put back into the camera by our protagonist, Leonard Shelby, after he has shot someone. This first image sets up the style of the rest of the film: nonlinear and looping back onto itself, the film is split up into subsections of plot that take place after the one following it. So, in essence, we are being told the story backwards, with each subsequent section ending where the previous one began. It's a unique, engaging, and important method of storytelling this film employs, and it never gets confusing or unclear for the audience. Of course, Shelby lives in real time, in constant forward motion, not traveling further and further back in time like we are while watching the film. But in order to capture the essence of Shelby's existence, we have to be given the sensation of suddenly being thrust into a situation without knowing (or in Shelby's case, remembering) what has happened before. We have to be as clueless as he is. That is accomplished through Memento's structure. It's much more than a gimmick; it's a gateway into the protagonist's mind.

From there, the film simply takes off, and never slows down. We are constantly kept alert and engaged in what's happening because we are as clueless as Leonard, and simply because the mystery is so great. His investigation for "John G," the killer, is fascinating and leads to many twists, turns, new alliances, and back-stabbings. Just when you think you have it "figured out" (if you're foolish enough to really think so) the film takes a turn and opens up whole new possibilities.

With the smoothness and grace of a film that knows it has a spectacular script, Memento introduces its various themes seamlessly into the main detective-story narrative. What is so immensely enjoyable about watching Memento is that it has so much thematic depth to it; all of the plot's twists and turns only serve to emphasize one of its many motifs. How far can someone rely on his or her memory of something until it starts to become distorted? Shelby's situation is so precarious because he is the most unreliable of narrators; the audience, following the story, is dependant on him for telling the story. Like a cancer, this realization is introduced in the viewer and grows as the film progresses. Shelby is a living, breathing personification of an intriguing philosophical question: can someone live without memory, by just knowing the facts about a situation and going on them? "Memory is unreliable. Facts are the only thing you can count on," Shelby says. He lives that quote, for time doesn't exist for someone like Shelby. Since he can't be aware of the passage of time, not knowing where he has been or how long it's been since his wife died, time really has no meaning for him. His "time" is merely the short bursts of consciousness that flare up and die every day. Shelby's condition is one of the most tragic situations any protagonists in film have been in.

The acting is, in a word, excellent, with Guy Pearce wrenchingly inhabiting this character. He's able to be charming, clueless, determined, and gruff all simultaneously. He is a detective trying to figure out the mystery but raging against the confines of his own mind, which prevent him from doing so. He talks to other characters in a polite and nice, but neutral manner, as if unsure whether or not he has actually talked to this person before but just doesn't remember it. It's a quietly intense performance, and the audience feels his pain through it.

I end this review with a mention of the ending of the film. No spoilers here, but not only does it manage to surprise us, shock us, and put the entire story in a new perspective, but it also wrenches the sympathy out of us so naturally because of what it does to Leonard Shelby in terms of his development as a character. To say that we discover a new side of him is to put it lightly; we simultaneously cry out in horror and sympathy at the final, brutal revelation. To say anything more would be wrong. It is the perfect ending to a perfect movie.

Rating:
Summary: Original and interesting...
Review: I have read some reviews that claim this movie is not as innovative as it seems...I disagree mainly because no movie has been so well made with the story moving both forwards and backwards to the climax of the movie. If there has been a movie like this I have not seen it or heard of it, and I seriously doubt the acting or directing will be comparable.
The fun of the movie lies not in guessing the climax, but in the causes, a more difficult task than it sounds, since the movie definitely is a little strange, and certainly disturbing.
Hopefully Pantoliano and Pearce will be nominated for Best Actor, as they richly deserve for jobs very well done.
Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Great, deep, film
Review: I'm surprised by some of the negative comments from other reviewers about this movie being nothing more than a cute idea. Quite the contrary, I think this movie is one of the most unnerving and fascinating ones I've ever seen (which is saying a lot, as I like challenging movies).

The movie does take some effort to follow, but it's definitely well worth the investment. There are many twists and turns along the way, including a few that I'm sure no one will see coming, coupled with some outstanding performances.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, heartbreaking, funny
Review: The truly wonderful thing about Memento is the number of paradoxes it reveals in a second viewing, or a "backwards" viewing, for those more inclined to use the rewind button. Joe Pantoliano's character, Teddy, is simultaneously honest and devious; Lenny (Guy Pearce) makes the conscious choice not to believe him because he is the only one who tells the painful truth. When viewed the first time, Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) seems cruel and deliberately fierce; only when her behavior is contextualized does it make sense. And even then, the scene where she chastises Lenny, calling him a retard and a freak, is heartbreaking.

Critics either loved or hated the movie, and the ones who hated it said it lacked any depth in characterization. I object heavily to this. Lenny is urgent and displaced, but thanks to Guy Pearce's performance, he is one of the most intriguing characters in modern cinema. He is incredibly likable, despite his being a walking, talking, present tense enigma. He is a person in the truest sense, despite his handicap and inability to contextualize himself in the grid of everyday living. Natalie calls him a survivor, but he's more than that. He has to have faith that the world still goes on when he closes his eyes. He's a believer, a testament that faith comes only with blissful ignorance.

Carrie-Anne Moss gives a stunning performance as Natalie. If you're looking for a character who undergoes a transformation throughout the movie, look no further. Perhaps because the movie is viewed backwards, we are left with the impression that she is a heartless manipulator. Look closer and you'll realize that she experiences a transformation near the "end" of the sequence of events (or the beginning of the movie). She wants Lenny to remember her. When he doesn't, she's crushed. How could he not remember her? After all, Lenny seems to consume the lives of everyone with whom he comes in contact--and it is he who is unaffected by daily interactions.

If we are to believe the message of Memento, we would see that one must be cruel to be kind, just as the movie itself is cruel to the viewer--demanding involvement with those already dead and beyond repair.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful concept and masterfully done.
Review: This movie starts at the end and goes backwards from there. The main character (wonderfully acted by the talented Guy Pearce) has short-term memory loss and has to write notes to himself to remember what happened 5 minutes ago. Carrie-Anne Moss is simply brilliant in this movie. I want to write about all my favorite details in this movie, but then it would spoil it for everyone who reads this. A small warning: this is not a movie that you can have going "in the background" doing other things, and still know what is going on, but from the first minute till the very end it grips you and will not let you go!