Plot
A man, suffering from short-term memory loss, uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man he thinks killed his wife.
Release Year: 2000
Rating: 8.6/10 (382,187 voted)
Critic's Score: 80/100
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Stars: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Storyline Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line moves forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.
Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan
Cast: Guy Pearce
-
Leonard Shelby
Carrie-Anne Moss
-
Natalie
Joe Pantoliano
-
Teddy Gammell
Mark Boone Junior
-
Burt
Russ Fega
-
Waiter
Jorja Fox
-
Leonard's Wife
Stephen Tobolowsky
-
Sammy Jankis
Harriet Sansom Harris
-
Mrs. Jankis
Thomas Lennon
-
Doctor
Callum Keith Rennie
-
Dodd
Kimberly Campbell
-
Blonde
Marianne Muellerleile
-
Tattooist
Larry Holden
-
Jimmy
Opening Weekend: £90,642
(UK)
(22 October 2000)
(20 Screens)
Gross: $25,530,884
(USA)
(11 November 2001)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
"Paranoid Android" by Radiohead was originally going to be used in the closing credits, but Christopher Nolan decided that the royalties needed to use this song (owned by Capitol Records) would be too great for this low-budget film.
Goofs:
Incorrectly regarded as goofs:
...or not - your call. Since the movie is about memory and its fragility/unreliability, it is eminently possible that all supposed continuity errors are deliberate. However, given the structural complexity of this movie, and bearing in mind the number of errors which manage to find their way into even the simplest linear narrative, it is equally possible that they are genuine errors and so they are reported here for your consideration.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Leonard Shelby:
[voiceover]
So where are you? You're in some motel room. You just - you just wake up and you're in - in a motel room. There's the key. It feels like maybe it's just the first time you've been there, but perhaps you've been there for a week, three months. It's - it's kind of hard to say. I don't - I don't know. It's just an anonymous room.
User Review
Absolutely No Spoilers Here--READ THIS REVIEW INSTEAD!!!!
Rating:
Thank Goodness I didn't read the reviews posted before I saw the
film!!
Most reviews (including ones on this site) will tell you waaayyyy too much
about the movie, and that's just plain frustrating. But, as an avid
cinephile, I promise not to do the same.
Memento is one of those pictures that will have you sitting in the theater
after the lights come up so you can talk to everyone else about what they
thought of the movie. This is a highly intelligent and original brain
teaser that will have you guessing from beginning to end, and even
afterwards. 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. Simple as that. 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.
Carrie-Ann Moss gives an equally mysterious and complex performance. This
film is well-made all the way around--from the direction, to the editing,
and especially the unique story that is rarely found in Hollywood these
days. Four Stars!
This review may have been a little dry on the details, but go see the
movie--you'll be thanking me later.
PS: Only go to the official website AFTER you've seen the movie. It too
will give too much away. Afterwards, though, go and look at it--it's pretty
impressive.
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