Memento (2000) *****

Memento still holds up since I first saw it three times in the theatre during its premiere year of 2000. Nolan’s timescape toying was and still is brilliant, despite its potential to be exploited in the future. The key is: Leonard (Guy Pearce’s best role) conjures and earns our empathy throughout his (and our) backward journey, and when characters develop before or during the gimmick, they defy the gimmick. 

Lenny’s anterograde amnesia, Pantoliano and Moss’s suspected manipulation, the “John G.” MacGuffin, and the Sammy Jankis construct flow with a perplexing seamlessness. The fact that auteur Nolan adds dabs of humor to the narrative makes it all the more enjoyable.

Throughout all of my viewings of Memento, my opinion of Lenny and what happened fluctuated between murderer and victim, and I refused to step out of the ambiguity.

Today, I come to realize that Leonard is the architect of his (and our) new reality to cover the tracks, the guilt, and, well, the memory. 

One of the most influential and groundbreaking movies of the late twentieth century.

“Okay, so what am I doing? Oh, I’m chasing this guy. No, he’s chasing me.”