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Old 05-07-2003, 05:35 PM   #1 (permalink)
Praelin
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Memento: Best. Movie. Ever.

Not sure if this was posted about on the old board. My favorite movie of all time came out in like 2000 / 2001...I'd like to write a whole lot of different things on it, but i'll just copy and paste a review i did for school. Keep in mind, this review is for school, so it's academic like, and it sucks ass.

trailer here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/memento.html


If I were to say Memento was the best movie I had ever seen, that would only slander its name. In all my sixteen and some odd years of movie watching, never have I seen such a breathtaking and exhilarating movie that shocked and amazed me at every scene. The story seems simple enough – One day, an insurance claims inspector named Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) heard some noises coming from his bathroom. Strange noises. He decided to get his gun, just in case it was serious. He opened the bathroom door and there lay his wife on the floor, being raped by one man and watched by another. Without thinking, almost like instinct, Leonard shot the man raping his wife, but he didn’t see the other man behind him. He was quickly rammed into a mirror in front of him, and was knocked unconscious. This is the last thing Leonard remembers. Because of the powerful thrust into his bathroom mirror, he sustains severe damage to his hippocampus. He has anterial-grade amnesia. He can’t make new memories. However, piecing together what he can remember from that night, and the battered police files he “borrowed” from the police, he dedicates his life to a mission: to avenge his wife, by poetic justice. He will murder his wife’s killer.

Memento is played in backwards order, so it can be confusing to the viewer. This is exactly why the movie is a masterpiece – it literally leaves the person guessing until the very end. And the order of playback isn’t the only confusing part. During the movie, you meet several characters that all associate with Leonard for their own devious purposes. Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss), the troubled young woman who “has also lost someone” convinces Leonard she is helping him “out of pity.” Teddy (Joe Pantoliano), a good friend of Leonard, a secretive and humorous cop who’s trying to help him, and the memory of Sammy Jankis, who had the same problem as Leonard, except he couldn’t make his life work. All these characters intricately and delicately woven into the complex plot that follows Leonard and his desperate urge for vengeance throughout the movie. But by the end of the movie, you may just ask yourself whose revenge it was.

The cinematics of Memento are incredible. They’re not too flashy, there is no use and no need of special effects, and they don’t try to force a message on you. They make you figure things out, and they make you pay attention, another reason the movie is so great. It’s never boring, there’s always something going on or something you have to figure out. And just when you think you’ve got it, everything changes. Sometimes, the movie changes themes. It flashes back to the time before the incident, of Leonard with his wife and the joy she brought him. Or it flashes to black and white, with Leonard in his motel room, talking to a stranger on the telephone as he outlines the police and their lack of interest on his case. And somehow, the conversation will always fall back to Sammy. Leonard will talk about Sammy, and how his wife begged Leonard for a judgment on his condition, how he acted, and how dissimilar he was from him. Then, suddenly, Leonard will take off a bandage, which tells him never to answer the phone.

Memento isn’t all theatrics. There is some humor, and intelligent humor at that. Leonard loses his motel key at one point, and asks the manager to open it up. Unfortunately, the manager forgot he moved him and rented another room – because business was slow. When Leonard asks how he could do something like that, the manager responds “It doesn’t matter, you won’t remember anyway.” Leonard feels he was a bit too honest with that remark, and the manager continues: “Always get a receipt.” Leonard smirks and says, “Hmm, I’d better write that down.” as he takes out a gigantic pile of notes, pictures, and miscellaneous garbage.

Memento is not for the faint of heart. It’s fast paced, confusing at times, and violent. It’s also touching, heart wrenching, and overall a valuable investment of your time. However, with all its positive attributes, Memento has one major design flaw: it’s only 116 minutes long.
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