Memento Review

Before Christopher Nolan hit it big with movies like The Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception, he first made a name for himself with a small, yet brilliantly crafted, mystery thriller titled, Memento.

Memento follows Leonard, a former insurance fraud investigator that is on the hunt for the man that murdered his wife. However, there is a catch. While trying to save his wife from an attacker, he suffered a brain damage, which caused anterograde amnesia. Due to the anterograde amnesia, Leonard can only remember very recent events, like within the last 30 minutes or less, the movie begins at the end of the story and jumps back to each point before Leonard’s memory fades, which creates for a unique experience for the audience.

Anterograde amnesia is when a person cannot create new memories yet retains all, or most, of his or her memories prior to the incident. While there is more explanation in the movie, according to medical experts, Memento displays the most accurate representation of anterograde amnesia in film. To combat his memory problems, Leonard writes many notes and takes pictures to remind him of what he needs to do and who people are.

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Genre: Mystery, Thriller,

Release Date: September 5, 2000

Running Time: 113 minutes

MMPA rating: R

The Good: Inventive and unique narrative devices, Perfectly paced, Mind-bendingly complex, Nearly flawless plotting, Top notch performances,

The Bad:

Plot: 9.9/10- Memento’s plot is unique, tight, and nearly flawless. 

As good as Nolan’s later films have been, even some of his best have had major plot holes and inconsistencies, yet, at least from what I have deduced, there are few if any plot holes in Memento. Using the narrative device of the character’s anterograde amnesia by starting from the end and going backwards to the beginning is not a gimmick, because almost everything takes place from the perspective of the main character Leonard. As for the mystery, Nolan leaves enough clues for the audience to figure it out, but not enough to make it obvious and the actual mystery is oh so intriguing to figure out.

Characterization: 9.2/10- Despite the continual time jumps, the main character, Leonard, is surprisingly compelling. While the other characters are not particularly developed, they are all memorable and distinct. 

Acting: 9.3/10- Guy Pearce’s performance is particularly exceptional as Leonard. He is able to convey the character’s condition effectively. Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano give noteworthy performances as well. 

Soundtrack: 7.2/10- While the score can be somewhat effective at points, it is barely noticeable overall.

Humor: N/A-

Entertainment Value: 8.9/10- Since the neo-noir mystery style is particularly appealing to me, trying to piece together the plot was very entertaining.

Overall: 9.5/10- Memento is a superbly crafted mystery film with a unique narrative structure and strong performances, there is nothing negative that can be said about the film.

Closing comments: OK.... What am I doing again? Ah, it looks like I am writing a review for something called “Memento.” I don't remember watching that....

Recommended for: Mystery fans, Christopher Nolan fans (Nolanites), Noir fans, Guy Pearce fans, Thriller fans,

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The Prestige Review.

Thoughts: Before Christopher Nolan made The Dark Knight and Inception he made another mind bending film named The Prestige, aka, one of the most underrated and forgotten films ever made. The movie is about two competing magicians who are trying to have the better "Teleporting Man" trick and these guys, played by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, are also trying to get revenge for personal reasons, which are explained in the film. The Prestige is one of the those movies that you keep you thinking and talking about long after the film ends. Because of this, there will be complete spoiler section at the bottom; however the rest of the review will be spoiler free.


Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Mind bender, Period drama,
Release Date: October 20, 2006
Running Time: 130 minutes
MMPA rating: PG-13


The Good: Shocking plot twists, Excellent performances, Great characters, Uniquely structured plot, Complex plot, Thought provoking, Satisfying ending, Ensemble cast, Intriguing mystery, Original, Suspenseful, Superb cinematography (Oscar nominated),

The Bad:


Plot: The following plot summary is copied from Wikipedia.com.
A magician performs an illusion for a young girl explaining that each trick has three parts; the pledge, where the audience is presented with an ordinary object; the turn, where the object is turned into something extraordinary; and the prestige, where the object is brought back.
Magician Alfred Borden (Bale) is sentenced to death for the murder of rival Robert Angier (Jackman) by drowning him in a water tank during one of Angier's performances. Both began their careers as shills for "Milton the Magician" with ingénieur John Cutter (Caine) and Angier's wife Julia (Perabo) as his assistant. The pair observe an elderly Asian magician who is able to make a large fishbowl appear seemingly from nothing. Borden realizes that the man's frailty is in fact the act and comments that true magic requires sacrifice.
Watch the movie to see what happens next.


Plot: 9.6/10- Nolan creates a unique, nonlinear narrative structure in The Prestige, switching between three different timelines in the story. At first the narrative can be difficult to follow and a little confusing, however it becomes easier to follow as the film progresses. The characters are well written and are given due motive for their actions. What makes the film great however is that the mystery is brilliantly crafted and all the plot twists. While the twist is positively fantastic, it is the point where viewers will either love or hate the film. The twist may not be the best or most shocking twist ever, it is certainly up there.

Action: N/A-

Acting: 9.6/10- Christopher Nolan sure knows how to bring together an excellent cast and The Prestige is no exception. The Prestige's ensemble is fantastic, with top notch and sometimes Oscar worthy performances across the board. Jackman gives his best performance outside of the X-Men franchise and while Bale is occasionally difficult to understand, his performance was very good. Bale's character actually felt like a real human character unlike some of his past roles. As always, Michael Caine brings great gravitas in his usual mentor role. The lovely Scarlett Johansson, gives another amazing performance, albeit in a more minor role. The other cast members are excellent without a single weak performance.

Special effects: N/A-

Soundtrack: 7.7/10- Although it was not the most memorable, it services the film well and adds to the intrigue.

Comedy: N/A-

Would I Watch This Again: Unlike many mysteries, the film has a re-watch-ability since you want to catch all of the clues to the mystery.

Overall: 9.4/10- Overall The Prestige is an amazing film, perfectly structured and well acted with one of the best mysteries ever put to film.

Closing comments: Not everyone will enjoy the film, but it is one that you need to see and decide for yourself.

Recommended for: Nolan fans, Mystery fans, Christian fans, Hugh Jackson fans, Period drama fans, Suspense fans, Mind bender fans,

*Spoiler Discussion*
OK, the ending was absolutely amazing! While it was surprisingly straight forward and not ambiguous like Inception's ending, it made sense for the most part. Not even for a second had I thought Bernard was being played by Christian Bale, the disguise completely fooled me. As for Tesla's sci-fi/magic cloning machine: I liked the idea. Even though it kind of broke the rules of the established world, I actually enjoyed the sci-fi turn at the end. I can see some people really hating it for the twist, which is why the film is not for everyone. My only problem with the film is that, the characters Robert Angier and "The Great Danton" were both played by Hugh Jackman. I know Danton was an actor, but no one except for an identical twin can look that similar to a person. It was not a huge problem and did not effect the score, but it was definitely worth noting.
*End Spoilers*

What are your thoughts on the film? If you have seen it, please discuss spoilers in the comment, if not do you plan to watch the film?

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