Memento

Movie Title-- Memento

Release Year-- 2000

Running Time-- 1 Hour and 53 Minutes

Production Company-- Summit Entertainment

Director-- Christopher Nolan

Cast-- Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Sansom Harris

A man loses his short term memory after being struck in the head while confronting two men that rape and murder his wife in their home. After the incident he is determined to avenge his wife's death and sets out to murder the man that killed his wife. Before he reaches his goal he is used by people that manipulate his condition for their own benefits.

I just have to say, I really really enjoyed this movie. When I first started this blog I was talking with my husband and one of our friends about it and my friend suggested a few movies to me that I might enjoy or at least take a look at so I could determine on my own what I thought about it. For that, I have to say thanks to Nelson. Although I enjoyed the film, I am sure that without the recommendation it wouldn't have been something I would have decided on all on my own.

That being said, I sat down to watch the film knowing one thing; if you watch the movie backwards it will all make sense. I have read that online and heard it from other people but never seeing the movie before now I didn't really grasp that concept before. So, I clicked the streaming Netflix on and in my head said to myself "pay attention, things may get hairy". Within the first ten minutes of the movie I realized one thing, the scenes that are in color are the "backwards" scenes and the ones that are in black and white are in chronological order. This dynamic is so that the viewer can experience the film as if we are looking out of the main character, Leonard Shelby's eyes and then the black and white scenes are thrown in there so that we can be caught up and understand what is happening.


Guy Pearce's character is really intense in this film. Watching the movie you feel for Pearce's character, Leonard Shelby. Leonard only remembers his life right up until the murder of his wife and from then on he only remembers things for a few minutes before his slate is wiped clean again and he remembers nothing. For his benefit he takes pictures of the people that he is closely involved with and leaves himself important notes in a very unconventional way.

If you can't really follow the plot lines of a movie, this may not be a film for you. When it cuts from color to black and white and vice versa it does become slightly confusing. If you can follow plot lines you should probably still pay close attention to this movie. This is one that you want to make sure you watch when you have nothing else going on or else you may miss something. If you miss something, you may as well not finish the movie because by missing something in this film you will have no idea what you saw once you get to the end.

I my opinion this was a really good film, a bit odd and a little crazy but it is good. I would recommend this movie to anyone that is interested in seeing a film that is a little off-kilter. It isn't really a typical "I just found this at the movie store and thought it looked good" kind of a movie. If you do pick this one up, keep your mind open so that you can follow the story, you will thank me for it later and don't forget the popcorn!