A tour de force with its initial viewing, Christopher Nolan’s (Dunkirk, Interstellar) mind-bending Memento felt, more than 99% of the films I watch, worthy of a second viewing. What initially captivated but confused me equally would likely enthrall me further while clearing up plot holes. It turns out that this wasn’t the case. Not only did my second watch cause me to be more uncertain of the events, their timelines, and overarching structure. It also left me feeling bored by the premise and disengaged from the story. In a way, it feels odd to say that. At the same time, the film could be more straightforward in its attempt to entertain and differentiate itself in new and unique ways. Even in the early stages of his directing career, Nolan was, for better or worse, telling his viewers that he was the most intelligent person in the room and to get used to it.
There certainly is a ton of good with Memento. And I completely understand how many will think it is brilliant. It is just frustrating not to understand it. Many will be able to make sense of this (or at least think they made sense of it). There will also be many who will enjoy it because they aren’t trying to overthink it. Unfortunately, I don’t fall into either of those groups. I want to understand my movies. When I don’t, I either grow annoyed or tune out completely. Ironically, I was only mildly annoyed with my second watch, and I only sort of tuned out. I wanted to enjoy this so much more than I did. I put in the work. The payoff wasn’t there. This film will not receive a third viewing from me.
Guy Pearce (The Road, The King’s Speech) gives the performance of his career as Leonard, a person suffering from anterograde amnesia. This rare neurological disorder prevents him from creating new memories (think of short-term memory loss but with a convoluted name to make it more confusing. His last memory is that of his wife’s rape and murder. Going forward, any new memory has a shelf life of about 10 minutes before it leaves Leonard’s mind. However, Leonard has a way to piece together events that will help him avenge his wife’s death by killing her killer. He has tattoos written on his body, Polaroid camera photos with handwritten captions, note cards, and more to aid him.
Muddying matters even further is that Nolan’s film is told in reverse chronological order. Memento transverses in overlying segments that move backward in time. Leonard must also determine who is trying to help him and who is trying to hinder him in his investigation. This includes a cop named Teddy (Joe Pantoliano – Bad Boys, The Fugitive), a bartender named Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix, Disturbia), and a motel manager named Burt (Mark Boone Junior (The Birth of a Nation, Frozen River), to name a few.
Finally, there is an entirely different backstory of Leonard’s former life, where he tells us a distressing story about Sammy Stephen Tobolowsky (The Insider, Adaptation), a fellow anterograde amnesia, whom he met in his days as an insurance claims investigator. It’s a compelling interwoven side story that feels the most concrete. It always becomes more integral as the film evolves. It’s just that there is already a lot going on, and our minds feel like they are on overdrive trying to follow a non-linear story that seems hellbent on confusing us. Again, it was captivating on the first watch but frustrating to the point of annoyance on subsequent ones.
If you haven’t seen Memento and, if it looks interesting, or if you are a Nolan fan, it would be worth the watch. However, I wouldn’t necessarily put this on your must-see list because you love Nolan and must see everything he directs. What makes Nolan unique is that his films are so different from one another and so distinctive from almost anything else you’ll see in cinema. While I admire and appreciate this, it doesn’t mean all his films hit. Memento did not work for me. It should have been a one-and-done for me.
Character Development 7.5/10
Character Chemistry 7.5/10
Acting 8.5/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 6/10 (There are high expectations with sound when it comes to Nolan movies; Memento failed to deliver.)
Hook and Reel 7/10
Universal Relevance 6.5/10
75.5%
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
- Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
- Shutter Island
- Inception
- The Butterfly Effect
- Se7en