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Memento poster

Memento

year 2000decade 00sdirector Christopher Nolangenre Mysterygenre Thriller

113 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Guy Pearce Leonard Shelby
Joe Pantoliano John Edward "Teddy" Gammell
Jorja Fox Catherine Shelby
Stephen Tobolowsky Sammy Jankis
Harriet Sansom Harris Mrs. Jankis
Larry Holden Jimmy Grantz

Memento | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanproducer Craig Horlbeck format Categories out of sequence
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Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:40Read transcript
  • The categories are run completely out of sequence, so Who Won the Movie comes first.
  • Nolan wins going away: he came out of nowhere after The Following and for $5 million made a movie that looks better than 99% of films of the time, with Soderbergh championing it.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Christopher Nolan

What’s Aged the Worst?

Never matching the first viewing; Guy Pearce's career stock

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:30:39Read transcript
  • The movie will never match the experience of seeing it the first time, like a first in-person playoff game; the build-up, the theater, and the final-ten-minutes realization that there is no second killer cannot be replicated.
  • Films like Fight Club and The Sixth Sense offer a new way to watch once the ending is known.
  • Whether Teddy's end-of-film account is the real story is questioned; one reading says yes, while a fun theory puts Leonard in the mental institution with Sammy as an invention, hinted by a quick shot of him in the chair.
  • Most characters (Bert, Natalie, Teddy) tell Leonard the truth at various points because there are no consequences to lying to him.
  • Anyone holding Guy Pearce rookie cards after Memento took a hit; his Mayor of Easttown character does not add up and needs to be heavier, scarred or balding.
  • The episode posts on Monday, when more of that show will have aired, so the character may still surprise.
  • The other view is that the film remains timeless with nothing aged badly, agreeing only that the first-viewing feeling is hard to replicate; picking the movie up in the middle feels like vertigo, as noted before recording.

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

Yes, in half-hour episodes; Burt spin-off

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:03Read transcript
  • The idea is exciting; episodes would need to be half an hour, since hour-long backwards episodes would frustrate viewers, and it could go backwards but not jump back and forth.
  • The series could ride the short-term memory, with Leonard as a killer for hire for different people each episode; skipping around would be too confusing for TV.
  • A spin-off told from the perspective of Bert, the guy working at the motel, is suggested.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:58Read transcript
  • The producer is asked for a ruling on whether Joey Pants automatically wins when he is in the movie; the question of an automatic win has never really been decided.
  • Joey Pants should win automatically, with a runner-up who would inherit a vacated title like a college bowl champion.
  • Joey Pants wins.
  • Stephen Tabalowski is floated but has already won the award for Groundhog Day, and is seen as his Groundhog Day character.
  • Mark Boone Jr., who plays Bert the hotel guy, or Callum James Rennie, who plays Dodd, are suggested instead.
  • Mark Boone Jr.'s credits (Batman Begins, 30 Days of Night, Sons of Anarchy) are cited and the choice is allowed.

Apex Mountain

Guy Pearce; Carrie-Anne Moss; Jorja Fox; the Discount Inn; anterograde amnesia; tan suits

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:39:02Read transcript
  • Guy Pearce: yes.
  • Carrie-Anne Moss, coming out of The Matrix, is at her Apex here since it did not lead to much more.
  • Georgia Fox is at Apex: it has never been better for her as she moves from ER to CSI.
  • CSI's revival prompts a tangent about Peterson living nearby, the L.A. code of not approaching him, his being the backup choice for a Goodfellas role, and a vow to do To Live and Die in L.A.
  • Christopher Nolan and Steven Toblowski are not at Apex; the discount inn motel is, since it was never more prominent.
  • Joey Pants is not at Apex here; his Matrix-Memento run is nice, but his Apex comes soon after with The Sopranos.
  • This is the Apex for anterograde amnesia; other amnesia candidates include Kelly Taylor on 90210, Overboard, Lost, Liam Neeson in Unknown and soap operas.
  • A wish to get amnesia to relive all the Boston sports titles closes the amnesia bit.
  • Tan suits are added as one more Apex; Pearce keeps his crisp despite living in it.

What’s Aged the Best?

Promotional website; anterograde amnesia depiction; middle-age forgetting; narration device; pull-door gag and double room rental; Carrie-Anne Moss's bar; close-up anamorphic cinematography; Tujunga and Valley locations

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:23Read transcript
  • Jonathan Nolan designed one of the first movie websites, a Blair Witch-style set of clues; web marketing in 1999-2001 was fun, and without social media you gave in to the project.
  • Its depiction of anterograde amnesia was called one of the most realistic by medical experts.
  • Watching 20 years later in middle age, when things are no longer at your fingertips, you feel the character differently; forgetting a Grantland item they did for four years leads to a joke that the brain is a nightclub with limited capacity.
  • The narration is a great framing device, and he was allowed to improvise much of it.
  • Subtle touches reinforce his condition and exploitation: he slams into a pull door at the motel and the clerk rents him two rooms; his moments of panic are effective.
  • Carrie-Anne Moss working at the bar prompts a tangent about owning a bar, with the Den of Thieves bar as the lowest acceptable and an airport bar as the worst case.
  • Nolan shot in CinemaScope with anamorphic lenses, avoiding wide and establishing shots and moving the camera closer to Pearce in conversations to put you inside Leonard's head.
  • The shooting locations outside L.A., around Victory Boulevard near Burbank and Pasadena, capture the grimy Valley, which Barry also captures.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Opening killing of Teddy; black-and-white-to-color transition with Jimmy's killing and Teddy's reveal

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:01Read transcript
  • At first it seemed to have no scenes, but rewatching produced nominees; the film is two intertwined sequences, black-and-white and color.
  • Lenny killing Teddy at the top and the first six minutes are nominated, fun to watch knowing where it goes.
  • The first Carrie-Anne Moss diner scene is good and plays differently once you know what she did.
  • Finding the guy in his closet and the shootout where he does not know what is happening are liked.
  • Carrie-Anne Moss flipping out on him, hiding the pens and provoking him, is called not the most rewatchable but a great scene that shows his limitations and inverts how that character is traditionally played in detective stories.
  • Dogs are a real-life Memento: they cannot tell five minutes from 17 days away, so they can be messed with.
  • The dog remark is clarified as hypothetical: not saying it was done, only that it could be in the wrong hands. — Bill Simmons
  • Carrie-Anne Moss using his condition against him for a day is brutal to watch.
  • The last 20 minutes, including the diabetes reveal and Teddy saying you lie to yourself to be happy, are very rewatchable.
  • Leonard's transition from black and white to color, with the killing of Jimmy and Teddy's reveal, is probably the most rewatchable scene.