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Movies / On DVD / Memento
Memento

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Memento (2001)

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Reviews Counted:134

Fresh:125

Rotten:9

Average Rating:8.1/10

Consensus: Memento's fragmented, complex narrative is skillfully executed, keeping audiences guessing. Overall, critics find it to be a highly original, clever movie.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, language and some drug content

Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Mar 16, 2001 Limited

Box Office: $23,844,220

Synopsis: Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) wears expensive, European tailored suits, drives a late model Jaguar sedan, but lives in cheap, anonymous motels, paying his way with thick wads of cash. Although he... Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) wears expensive, European tailored suits, drives a late model Jaguar sedan, but lives in cheap, anonymous motels, paying his way with thick wads of cash. Although he looks like a successful businessman, his only work is the pursuit of vengeance: tracking and punishing the man who raped and murdered his wife. His suspicions dismissed by the police, Leonard's life has become an all-consuming quest for justice. The difficulty, however, of locating his wife's killer is compounded by the fact that Leonard suffers from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his "accident", Leonard can't remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he is, where he's going or why. A former insurance investigator, Leonard is keenly aware of his handicap. Moreover, he's got the discipline to compensate as well as the motivation-the cruel memory of his beloved wife's last moments. Haunted by what he's lost, he's re-built his life out of index cards, photographs, file folders, charts, tattoos and obsessive habits that stand in for memory, fixing him in space and time and connecting him to his mission. Out of necessity, Leonard must rely on others despite being thoroughly ill-equipped to assess either their motives or basic decency. Leonard remembers his past-up to a point. But just who has Leonard become since losing the ability to hold together the fragments of himself? "Memento" mines this psychological terrain, using non-linear film narrative to mirror Leonard's own effort to interpret the random pieces of evidence he hoards. The murder, rewound in the opening frames, we discover, is logically the endpoint of Leonard's story. What we learn comes from a point earlier in time, a few moments and a few sentences prior to what we've already been shown. As Leonard's story unfolds, the meaning of events changes. Allies, enemies, victims, victimizers swap place almost kaleidoscopically. [More]

Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Junior Boone

Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Junior Boone, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Harris, Jorja Fox

Director: Christopher Nolan

Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenwriter: Christopher Nolan
Producer: Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd
Composer: David Julian
Studio: Newmarket Films

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Sep 4, 2001

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Memento

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Nolan's sophomore effort is a near peerless psychological thriller.

Full Review Source: Cinemania | comment Comment
07/10/09
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Cinemania

"Memento" is a crime-revenge story that relies on its one big gimmick.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment 8 Comments
05/20/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Bob Grimm
Bob Grimm
Sacramento News & Review

The film is cool, contemplative, a puzzle movie in which you see the finished puzzle right up front and then watch as it disassembles itself.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
03/11/08
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
11/01/07
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
04/27/07
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unlike most neo-noir, the script is not based on any previous film. Rather, it's a shrewd deconstruction of the genre itself, defying linear progression and going backwards and sideways in a logical yet captivating manner.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
12/27/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Just when you thought film noir was dead and buried, along comes the memorably mind-bending Memento.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
10/23/06
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Memento is as bleak as they come. But sometimes staring into humanity's heart of darkness is a healthy thing.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
01/15/05
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

Fans of film noir and The Usual Suspects will find much to appreciate about Memento, with its circular loop of lost memory.

Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | comment Comment
06/22/04
Judith Egerton
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
02/25/04
J. V. McAuley
J. V. McAuley
Zap2it.com

Ironically, it’s one of the most memorable films so far this year.

Full Review Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette | comment Comment
01/01/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Nolan's skill lies in creating an atmosphere for this story.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
06/23/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/20/03
Susan Tavernetti
Susan Tavernetti
Palo Alto Weekly

...Forces the viewer to wrap his mind around an entirely new kind of storytelling.

Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | comment Comment
02/08/03
John R. McEwen
John R. McEwen
Film Quips Online

An engaging twist on the thriller genre.

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
01/29/03
Wesley Lovell
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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