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Memento (2000)

A man juggles searching for his wife's murderer and keeping his short-term memory loss from being an obstacle.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (short story "Memento Mori")
Popularity
420 ( 79)

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Top Rated Movies #47 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 55 wins & 55 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

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Kimberly Campbell ...
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Larry Holden ...
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Storyline

Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line moves forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time. Written by Scion013

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Some memories are best forgotten

Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some drug content | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

|

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

25 May 2001 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Amnesia  »

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£90,642 (UK) (20 October 2000)

Gross:

$25,530,884 (USA) (9 November 2001)
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Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Stephen Tobolowsky has stated that during his audition for Sammy, he had mentioned to director Christopher Nolan that he had experienced amnesia personally. A few years earlier, he was given an experimental pain killer that induced amnesia for a surgery he had undergone. Tobolowsky said it may have helped him get the part, because no other actor would likely have had his first-hand experience. See more »

Goofs

Natalie's hair in the restaurant scene. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Leonard Shelby: [voiceover] So where are you? You're in some motel room. You just - you just wake up and you're in - in a motel room. There's the key. It feels like maybe it's just the first time you've been there, but perhaps you've been there for a week, three months. It's - it's kind of hard to say. I don't - I don't know. It's just an anonymous room.
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Connections

Referenced in The Originals: The Casket Girls (2014) See more »

Soundtracks

Do the Boogaloo
Written by Gerhard Narholz (as Sammy Burdson) and John Fiddy (as Jean-Claude Madonne)
Sonoton Music Library
Courtesy of Associated Production Music
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Frequently Asked Questions

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User Reviews

 
A trip into the mind
4 April 2009 | by (Asunción, Paraguay) – See all my reviews

If the director of this independent film tried to make us feel really confused, like the main character, he did it wonderfully. There are only a few movies like this one, the kind of movies that makes you pay attention to every minute of it. Obviously that doesn't work all the time, but this case is the exception. Really well directed with a wonderful photography and excellent cast. The main actors' performances are great. We really root for the guy as we hate the ones who try to take advantage of him.

Original films like this one always stand out. Perhaps it didn't caught much attention at first but now it is in an important position at the IMDb top 250 and that means that most the people recognize great movies when they see them.

As I said before, this movie is a little confusing because it runs backwards while the black and white scenes run in chronological order. But that wasn't a cheap trick to make the movie more "intelectual", it was its strength. A rare film that shouldn't be missed.


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