Memento movie review - Aussieboyreviews
IS MEMENTO A SMART, DARK AND ENTERTAINING MYSTERY-THRILLER?
Centring on Guy Pearce who plays a man with short-term memory loss trying to identify his wife’s killer, Memento is smart and very well-made. However, if you’ve seen movies like 1987’s Angel Heart, you might find the mystery predictable at times.
Storyline
A man who suffers from short-term memory loss uses notes and tattoos to hunt for the man who murdered his wife.
Movie Images
Movie details
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Release Date (Australia): 12 April 2001
Runtime: 113 minutes/1h 53m
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Language: English
CONTENT GUIDE (warning: May contain spoilers)
Thematic material includes murder, drug dealing and the character suffering from short-term memory loss.
The film includes photos of bloody corpses, as well as scenes in which people are hit with blunt objects, strangled and shot, sometimes accompanied by blood detail.
The film includes a use of the word “c**t”, frequent use of “f**k” and several uses of “s**t”.
A woman is briefly depicted snorting a drug.
There is a very brief depiction of male buttocks nudity.
The word “f**ked” is used in a sexual context.
mpaa rating
R (for violence, language and some drug content)
Aussie boy's thoughts
If 1987’s Angel Heart starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro hadn’t existed, the final twist of Christopher Nolan’s Memento would work out just as cleverly as the previous turns in the film. It’s because their twists are sort of similar. But if you haven’t seen either of these two excellent movies, Memento is more original, inventive, is pack with unexpected turns and is definitely the go-to one you should check out first. But why?
Memento consists of talented actor Guy Pearce in a role in which he is a man suffering from short-term memory loss who is trying to figure out his wife’s killer. The most original part of the story aspect is the fact that his short-term memory loss brings most of the dramas, and how he tattoos sentences all over his body to properly take notes that won’t get lost. This makes you really root for him and is also the reason why the film can be very complicated; not everyone’s taste in mystery.
Pearce does a brilliant job on the screen whilst Nolan’s work behind the camera is very suitable. But perhaps the smartest thing this movie did was confuse us as much as the protagonist felt, and it jumps back and forth in situations, which might have be better in chronological order. Christopher Nolan’s screenwriting is very good and his film is worth watching.
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