Dave's Movie Reviews: Christopher Nolan

5/13/2008

NO RULES REVIEW: Memento

Memento (2000)

Raw Score: 913,872
Sharon Movie? No

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Jonathan Nolan (short story Memento Mori), Christopher Nolan (screenplay)
Genre: Crime/Mystery/Thriller

The Skinny Version

Plot

It is a true work of art and was incredibly inspiring for someone that wants to make films some day. This is a movie that I was very glad to be able to see in the theaters. Leonard (Guy Pearce) is a man suffering from short term memory loss and is trying to track down the man who he thinks killed his wife. This movie was overlooked by many in the theaters because it was a movie with little advertising and it slowly grew into a big hit once the word got out. If you haven't seen it then you need to. Everything he does he tries to keep notes and tattoos about so that he can remember what he is doing. The movie pulls you into Leonard's life and attempts to share the chaos with you.

The Real Deal

Teddy Gammell (Joe Pantoliano) is a cop that is trying to help Leonard stay on the right path. Throughout the movie you have to try and figure out what is actually happening or what you believe to be true. This movie will mess with your head and keep your attention throughout. There is much more to talk about on this movie, but I will save it for the Deeper Thoughts blog. Great directing and I have to see every movie that Christopher Nolan makes now. I have yet to be disappointed. Memento is one of the truly great movies of the past few decades. I remember seeing this movie in the theater and ending up speechless at the end. I loved it. Here is the review of Memento directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Guy Pearce. This allowed you to get some background on the character and what he is thinking while trying to figure out what was actually happening or has already happened really. The idea is to bring you into Leonard's world where he does not know what is going on or why it is.

Performance

Following was also a great film that altered the time of the movie only it was less meaningful for the story. In Memento the way the movie is edited to run backwards and forwards to the middle of the movie was incredible. Joe Pantoliano is always an interesting character. Maybe it is just his personality in real life, but he just seems goofy. This movie shows his strength in a supporting role. He seems like a nice guy, but sort of sleazy at the same time. Joe did a great job with the character of Teddy because you never know whether to trust him or not. I loved the creativity of the movie. After I saw Memento I wanted to see other films that Christopher Nolan had directed only to find one, Following. That is the whole point, but Joe Pantoliano makes this very easy for the viewer. Carrie-Anne Moss is Natalie, the girlfriend of the guy that Leonard seems to be after for his next John G. Carrie-Anne does a great job with making a character that is lost in all of the chaos and one of those people that seems to want to take advantage of situations. This is where the movie truly shined along with the writing that Jonathan Nolan did for this movie. The brothers worked hard to make this movie as true to the rare medical condition as they could. She has actually done quite a few things with Matrix being one of her larger roles before this film. She did a good job.

Cinematography & Directing

Guy Pearce was already well known by many for L.A. Confidential. I did not even know who he was until after Memento. After I saw Memento, I wanted to see all of Pearce's films. Guy Pearce did a tremendous job with the part of Leonard proving his ability to act. He is very convincing as someone who does not know what just happened as weird as that sounds. He did not have to show much emotion in this film, but that did not keep him from giving a great performance. I have since been much less impressed with his performance in Time Machine and much more impressed with his performance in Factory Girl. Factory Girl was a more difficult role for him and it is definitely worth a look. The acting was very good overall in Memento.