"Memento" is the story of a man, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), who is suffering from short-term memory loss-- caused from a head injury.  He can only remember things by writing them down, taking Polaroids, or tattooing them on his body.   Leonard says that he had to learn to recognize his own handwriting so he won't be tricked into believing something that isn't true-- but that sometimes happens anyways.  Many people take advantage of Leonard's handicap.  For example, a bartender spits into a beer in front of Leonard and then serves it to him 5 minutes later...Leonard drinks the nasty beer because he doesn't remember anyone spitting into it.

      Anyway, Leonard is on a mission.  His wife was raped and murdered in their own house.  Leonard tried to save her but failed and ended up being shot in the head.   He is now handicapped (the memory loss) and is desperately seeking revenge for his wife's rapist and murder.  But it's really very useless because he won't remember the satisfaction that he will get if he ever does find and kill the murderer.  

      But that leads to some questions...has he already found and killed the murderer but doesn't remember?  One character, played by Joe Pantoliano, suggests to Leonard that he has already found and killed the murderer, and that he should stop his mission of revenge.  That is one question of many, which is left in the mind of people who see this movie.  So, if you want to think, if you want to experience a ground-breaking film, by all means, go see this movie.  That is, if it's playing in your area. If it's not, then wait for it to come out on DVD, and buy it.  Or you could take a vacation to someplace that is showing it.  It's worth it.    

     -- James ( 4 out of 4 pops )

Talk about this film with other Popkorn Junkies

      Patsy ( 4 out of 4 pops )  

      This is the best movie I've seen in a long time and I definitely recommend it to anyone that's thinking about seeing a movie sometime soon!   Pappy asked me how I liked it when it was over...my response, "I loved it.....I gotta pee."  (Read Pappy's review of "Spy Kids" to get the joke).

      Pappy ( 3 out of 4 pops )  

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      (This was a very clever movie that I enjoyed a great deal.  Yes, it left me with a lot of unanswered questions in my mind, but I’ve forgotten them.  So I guess it was pretty good.)

      Liz ( 4 out of 4 pops )  

      If you're lucky enough to live near one of the theatres showing this film, go see it now.  Don't try too hard to figure out the plot details, just watch it and breathe a huge sigh of relief for the state of American cinema.  I'm not going to get into any of the usual (review) stuff because "Memento" created a new genre, it's a breakthrough, and I want to treat it with big-time RESPECT.