Product Description

Sony Pictures Memento (Blu-Ray)
Point blank in the head a man shoots another. In flashbacks, each one earlier in time than what we've just seen, the two men's past unfolds. Leonard, as a result of a blow to thehead during an assault on his wife, has no short-term memory. He's looking for his wife's killer, compensating for his disability by taking Polaroids, annotating them, and tattooing important facts on his body. We meet the loquacious Teddy and the seductive Natalie (a barmaid who promises to help),and we glimpse Leonard's wife through memories from before the assault. Leonard also talks about Sammy Jankis, a man he knew with a similar condition. Has Leonard found the killer? What's going on?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4028 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2006-08-15
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential) and Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix) shine in this absolute stunner of a movie. Memento combines a bold, mind-bending script with compelling action and virtuoso performances. Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, hunting down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The problem is that "the incident" that robbed Leonard of his wife also stole his ability to make new memories. Unable to retain a location, a face, or a new clue on his own, Leonard continues his search with the help of notes, Polaroids, and even homemade tattoos for vital information.

Because of his condition, Leonard essentially lives his life in short, present-tense segments, with no clear idea of what's just happened to him. That's where Memento gets really interesting; the story begins at the end, and the movie jumps backward in 10-minute segments. The suspense of the movie lies not in discovering what happens, but in finding out why it happened. Amazingly, the movie achieves edge-of-your-seat excitement even as it moves backward in time, and it keeps the mind hopping as cause and effect are pieced together.

Pearce captures Leonard perfectly, conveying both the tragic romance of his quest and his wry humor in dealing with his condition. He is bolstered by several excellent supporting players, and the movie is all but stolen from him by Pantoliano, who delivers an amazing performance as Teddy, the guy who may or may not be on his side. Memento has an intriguing structure and even meditations on the nature of perception and meaning of life if you go looking for them, but it also functions just as well as a completely absorbing thriller. It's rare to find a movie this exciting with so much intelligence behind it. --Ali Davis

From The New Yorker
For those who enjoyed getting their heads around "Back to the Future," here is a movie that takes off in the opposite direction. Guy Pearce plays Leonard, a former insurance investigator who has mislaid his short-term memory; leave the room and come back ten minutes later, and he won't remember you. To help his case, and to solve the apparent murder of his wife, Leonard tattoos himself with memoranda and drives around the lowlier districts of L.A. County. At the same time, he has a couple of acquaintances (Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano) who seem eager both to support Leonard and to use his condition for their own unscrupulous ends. There is a fine, despairing comedy to these events-not just in our fidgety hero, but in the constant thwarting of our need to know. After all, the solution to a whodunit is never easy when you can't even be certain what got done. The young British writer and director Christopher Nolan, who has every intention of putting us through the mill, doubles his fun by running the whole story backward. Damn him. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

An Amazing Movie
I bought this DVD because I am a CSI/GSR fanatic. I run the GSRForeverLove wiki and tend to collect anything I can get with Jorja Fox or William Petersen. So, I had to own this film, boy I am glad I do.

The film is a hard one to 'get' the first time around, and I am not even going to get into the plot, except to say, it's original. I was enthralled from the start. Guy Pierce is amazing and delivers an outstanding performance. Nothing new there, I've seen him in other films.

My main reason for buying this was Jorja Fox, and even though her time in the film is short, she leaves a great impression, and the film is all about her.

I recomend this to any mystery fan, and to each CSI/GSR/Sara fan. It's a must own for film fans as well.

Great, Riveting, Spell-binding
Film noir taken in the sci fi genre maximum. Reminescent of Philip K Dick. A dark, disturbing mystery suspense film that once the story takes hold, leaves one panting for the truth...the narrator is unreliable, but as the hero we are rooting for him, and believe ultimately that he will take us to the truth...Remember Sam Jenkins!

Good non-formulaic thriller
Hard to explain the plot of this movie without revealing spoilers, so I'll just say Memento is definitely worth a view, maybe two. I do not watch a lot of mainstream movies, mostly because I don't feel like distilling the small amount of good material from the enormous volume of waste that is released into the theaters. But Memento was a terrific exception to the rule, and the filmmakers didn't even have to use special effects as a crutch since the story was compelling.