"Memento" Is it worth the watch?

If you’re curious, I watched “Memento” about half an hour after I watched “12 Angry Men”. I had never heard of the movie “Memento”, but after I saw that Christopher Nolan was the director I rolled my eyes. Ok. Fine. I don’t like Christopher Nolan. No matter. The movie was on the list, so I decided to give it a fair shot. Let’s cover the basics. The movie dropped in 2000 starring Guy Pierce, Carrie-Ann Moss, and Joe Pantoliano. The plot is fairly simple: Leonard is trying to find the guy who raped and murdered his wife, so he can exact revenge by killing him. Heads up light spoilers, and also this movie is rated R. In true Nolan fashion, the movie is out of order and is from the viewpoint of an unreliable narrator. Why is he unreliable? Oh. Right. Leonard has lost any ability to retain short-term memory since the murder. 

Let’s talk about the setting. With the events being out of order, I’m grateful we rotate between an old shack, a restaurant, a motel, and a car. Ah. Side note. The color saturation of the movie is fabulous. I loved seeing the sharp bright blue shirt paired with Leonard’s bleached hair. It’s eye-catching and fun. I don’t know how I feel about some of it being in black and white. I think that part of the movie is, and hear me out, a little lazy. The details they chose to hide through color could have been covered up in more clever ways. To be frank: I expect more from a Nolan film. 

I do however LOVE how Leonard keeps up with his condition. The polaroids. Great! Such a fun and different way to try and remember what has just happened. I mean. A picture is worth a thousand words. When you think about it like that, is there a better way to try and remember what had just happened? I am confused however on how Leonard always remembered he needed to bring his camera around. He would have had to learn to remember and that doesn’t track with his condition. He isn’t supposed to be able to remember essentially anything post-accident. Well, Nolan… I would love to ask you more questions about the continuity of this film. Alas, you are busy with “The Odyssey” at the moment. Another time? 

The tattoos. Let’s take a moment to talk about his tattoos. ABSOLUTELY INSANE. Whoever was drawing those on the leading man every day: I hope you got a raise. I would’ve loved to have seen where he got all of them and when. Some of the tattoos were really nice. Like he got them at a tattoo shop or at least paid for them. It seemed as the investigation wore on he bailed on going to an actual shop and started giving himself stick-and-pokes. WILD. It showed his determination. It showed his commitment. Leonard was not messing around. He was not going to forget that his wife had died, and it was John G’s fault. 

Guy Pierce did a great job portraying Leonard. He doesn’t seem crazy or like he is trying to keep it together. He seems determined and believable. I mean. It even took me a second to remember that this film is from the perspective of an unreliable narrator. I do love movies with unreliable narrators. This movie does a great job of making you question if he even is unreliable. He seems so calm… so in control. Like I said. Pierce does a great job in this role. 

This movie made me feel like I needed to stay focused, but it did not make me want to stay focused. You know what I mean? I felt like if I blinked for even a second I would lose the plot, but the plot didn’t draw me in. I think the movie was fine. The actors were great. The costumes were true to the nature of the characters, and I liked how the audience learns about the characters in reverse. Fun. 

I didn’t like that after the first 30 minutes, it seemed like the movie was made up of recycled content. It didn’t seem like we were seeing the situation from a different angle. It seemed like the plot was lacking. Also, this movie is graphic. It has scenes of violence, assault, and crude language. There are a lot of ‘ifs’ for me with this movie. If you are looking for a casual watch, I wouldn’t recommend it. If you are looking for a movie about an unreliable narrator, this could do the job. If you like Nolan movies and want to see one of his earlier movies, feel free to watch this one. I don’t think it’s a must-watch by any means. Feel free to touch grass and breathe in fresh air instead. 

Photo from IMDb