Memento (2000)

A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.

Director:

Christopher Nolan

Writers:

Christopher Nolan (screenplay), Jonathan Nolan (short story "Memento Mori")

Stars:

Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano

Top Rated Movies #54 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 57 wins & 57 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Guy Pearce	...	Leonard
Carrie-Anne Moss	...	Natalie
Joe Pantoliano	...	Teddy
Mark Boone Junior	...	Burt
Russ Fega	...	Waiter
Jorja Fox	...	Leonard's Wife
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Sammy Jankis
Harriet Sansom Harris	...	Mrs. Jankis
Thomas Lennon	...	Doctor
Callum Keith Rennie	...	Dodd
Kimberly Campbell	...	Blonde
Marianne Muellerleile	...	Tattooist
Larry Holden	...	Jimmy

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.

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Plot Keywords:

memory | short term memory loss | hidden truth | nonlinear timeline | murder | 

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Taglines:

Some memories are best forgotten

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and some drug content

Did You Know?

Trivia

(At around fifty-five minutes) The book that Leonard's wife is reading, which begins, "Two years have gone by since I finished the long story.", is Claudius the God by Robert Graves.

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Goofs

When Leonard is sitting in his pick-up writing down Teddy's license number, he writes "FACT 6" without checking how many other facts there are first.

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Quotes

Teddy: Someone has to pay, Lenny. Somebody always pays.

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Alternate Versions

In the Alliance Atlantis DVD (distributed in Canada), a "Chronological Scene Index" is available from the "Main Menu," to the right of "Set-Up," on the crossed-out "Reverse." This index provides the scenes in their true chronological order, but, apparently, each scene must be selected to be played.

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Connections

Referenced in Sean Bradley Reviews: Dunkirk (2017)

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Soundtracks

Stone
(2000)
Written and Performed by Monc
Courtesy of Conglomerated Industries

User Reviews

watch it early so you can see something else afterward.

I saw "Memento" in the early afternoon, a fact for which I am thankful. Why? Because it then proceeded to dominate the majority of my thoughts for the rest of the day. That night I lay in bed, tossing and turning, my mind trying to wrap itself around the story, and I absolutely could not GO TO SLEEP!

I finally just gave up on sleep, got up around midnight, and watched "Election" to cleanse my palate. Then I went back to bed and starting contemplating "Memento" AGAIN. Finally, out of sheer exhaustion, I went to sleep.

This is a movie that gets in your head and will not get out until you figure it all out. And that can only be done with extensive internet research. Reading "Memento Mori", the short story upon which the movie is "based" helped, too.

"Memento" is nothing short of a phenomenon. And a brilliant one at that.

Details

Official Sites:

Memento Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 May 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Memento

Filming Locations:

Hill Crest Inn, 9111 Sepulveda Blvd, North Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$235,488, 18 March 2001

Gross USA:

$25,544,867

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$40,047,078

Company Credits

Production Co:

Newmarket Capital Group, Team Todd, I Remember Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1