![\"Guy](\"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/memento.jpg\" "\\"memento\\"")
Guy Pearce lets his body language do the talking in "Memento"<\/p><\/div>\n
Forget About It<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n[xrr rating=2.5\/5]<\/p>\n
Memento<\/em><\/strong>. Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Russ Fega, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Samson Harris, and Thomas Lennon. Screenplay by Christopher Nolan, based on a story by Jonathan Nolan. Directed by Christopher Nolan. (Newmarket Films, 2000, Color, 113 minutes. MPAA Rating: R.)<\/strong><\/p>\nI am very much into suspense thrillers. However, I approached this one with a wary eye, as it was recommended by a friend who once suggested I see The Usual Suspects<\/em>, the most flaccid \u201csuspense\u201d movie I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\nMemento<\/em> is un-momentous for the same reason The Usual Suspects<\/em> was: It requires the viewer to hang all his emotions on the gimmick peg. For example, I stopped watching The Usual Suspects<\/em> about 3\/4 into the movie.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was just, frankly, boring,\u201d I told my friend. \u201cI lost interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
My friend screamed at me that I missed the big shock ending, in which the Keyser Soze MacGuffin is explained. I would\u2019ve loved that movie, I was told, if I had simply been patient enough to wait for the big payoff at the end.<\/p>\n
I countered that Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s movies also have big shock ending payoffs at the end, too, but that Hitch kept the viewer interested<\/em> with taut suspense, a great plot and finely-honed dialogue.<\/p>\nSo, I went into Memento<\/em> with a little more patience. I stuck with this one until the bitter end, and it was indeed bitter.<\/p>\nThe gimmick in this movie, which I picked up a third of the way into the inaction, is that it is shot in reverse time. Its hero, played by Guy Pearce, must have graduated from the Keanu Reeves School of Cardboard Acting, and suffers from a memory disorder. He can\u2019t remember what happened the day before, so he must reconstruct it physically\u2014with Polaroid shots and body tattoos\u2014to recreate a history of his life, so as not to go totally insane. He also is tracking down a killer (a device borrowed from Hitch). Once he catches the real killer, he can exonerate himself.<\/p>\n
But, the story is told with painstakingly pedantic scenes and awkwardly fake understatement. I had no sympathy for the hero at all, and if it weren\u2019t for some very good acting by Carrie Ann Moss and Joe Pantoliano, I probably would have tuned out early.<\/p>\n
The main problem with Memento<\/em> is that it tries too hard to be a film noir<\/em> for our times, while ignoring just what it was that made those dark movies so memorable. Combing my mind, I cannot even think of one lesser film noir that was less entertaining than Memento<\/em>, and no, I\u2019m not forgetting Johnny Stool Pigeon<\/em> or Detour<\/em>, either. As far as The Postman Always Rings Twice<\/em>, Out of the Past<\/em>, or White Heat<\/em>, forget about it! Memento<\/em> is so far out of their league that it\u2019s an insult to compare this dreck with those great classics.<\/p>\nWatching movies requires, as we all know, the \u201cwilling suspension of disbelief.\u201d And I\u2019ve got plenty of that suspension: It keeps me well-entertained even by such formulaic movies as The Money Pit<\/em> and Brian\u2019s Song.<\/em> When it comes to movies, I admit to being an escapist.<\/p>\nBut, when something is so patently ridiculous that it defies belief, that\u2019s where I draw the line. For example: In order to reconstruct his identity, Pearce been tattooed all over his torso. Okay, fine. I\u2019ll buy that.<\/p>\n
However, just look<\/em> at those tattoos: The producers obviously wanted them to look so cool<\/em> that they went whole hog, having a tattoo artist not just scrawl utilitarian messages on his body, but recreate the Sistine Chapel according to Marilyn Manson across his chest and arms. This one affectation comes off as more pretentious than Federico Fellini\u2019s entire oeuvre.<\/em><\/p>\nOf course, there are not many scenes of Pearce actually getting a tattoo. They would be too laughable if actually explicated. However, I can imagine what one scene from the cutting room floor might look like:<\/p>\n
PEARCE: I need this message tattooed.<\/p>\n
TATTOO GUY: What does it say?<\/p>\n
PEARCE: \u201cHe has a gun, and he\u2019s coming for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
TATTOO GUY: That\u2019s a lot of words, but if I just use navy blue, I can do it for you pretty cheap.<\/p>\n
PEARCE: Cheap? I have $1000. Go to town, man.<\/p>\n
TATTOO GUY: Where do you get all that money? I mean, you live in a fleabag hotel, with no obvious means of support.<\/p>\n
PEARCE: I got it from Chris Nolan, my director. He said I\u2019ve got to look \u201cscary
\ncool.\u201d Use this CD cover as an example for your fonts.<\/p>\n
TATTOO GUY: Wow, that is<\/em> cool. Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s \u201cSacrifice.\u201d Lots of cool Goth script. This will go perfect with the one I did from that Mercyful Fate t-shirt you brought in last week.<\/p>\nPEARCE: Last week?<\/p>\n
TATTOO GUY: Oh, yeah\u2014right. Sorry, dude, forgot.<\/p>\n
PEARCE: Anyways, we\u2019re going after the MTV crowd: Nolan told me not to worry too much that there\u2019s nothing really cool about me at all, at least not in the Robert Mitchum or Elvis sense. Nolan said, \u201cimage is everything,\u201d so with these tattoos, and working out at the gym all day, so that my pecs look really ripped, I can\u2019t lose.<\/p>\n
TATTOO GUY: Bitchen, dude.<\/p>\n
Of course, there is<\/em> a bona-fide shock ending by the time this mess wraps up, but you\u2019ll figure out that Pearce is the killer long before he does.<\/p>\nIf you have the intestinal fortitude to sit through this half-hearted art-school film, I recommend Edward Dmytryk’s 1965 classic amnesia thriller Mirage<\/em> as the perfect antidote. A tightly-shot suspense flick in the Hitchcock tradition, Gregory Peck doesn\u2019t need pecs nor tattoos to deliver a convincing performance. Instead, he relies on Peter Stone\u2019s crafty dialogue and brilliant plot. Peck also does something else that has eluded Christopher Nolan and Guy Pearce.<\/p>\nHe acts.<\/em><\/p>\nRobert L. Jones is a photojournalist living and working in Minnesota. His work has appeared in\u00a0<\/span>Black & White Magazine<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Entrepreneur<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Hoy! New York<\/span><\/span>, the New York\u00a0<\/span>Post<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>RCA Victor\u00a0<\/span>(Japan)<\/span><\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>Scene in San Antonio<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Spirit Magazine<\/span><\/span>\u00a0(Canada),\u00a0<\/span>Top Producer<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0 and the Trenton\u00a0<\/span>Times<\/span><\/span>. Mr. Jones is a past entertainment editor of\u00a0<\/span>The New Individualist<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 Forget About It [xrr rating=2.5\/5] Memento. Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Russ Fega, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Samson Harris, and Thomas Lennon. Screenplay by Christopher Nolan, based on a story by Jonathan Nolan. Directed by Christopher Nolan. (Newmarket Films, 2000, Color, 113 minutes. MPAA Rating: R.) I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,37,3,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dramas","category-independent-films","category-mreview","category-suspense-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions\/331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I am very much into suspense thrillers. However, I approached this one with a wary eye, as it was recommended by a friend who once suggested I see The Usual Suspects<\/em>, the most flaccid \u201csuspense\u201d movie I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n Memento<\/em> is un-momentous for the same reason The Usual Suspects<\/em> was: It requires the viewer to hang all his emotions on the gimmick peg. For example, I stopped watching The Usual Suspects<\/em> about 3\/4 into the movie.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just, frankly, boring,\u201d I told my friend. \u201cI lost interest.\u201d<\/p>\n My friend screamed at me that I missed the big shock ending, in which the Keyser Soze MacGuffin is explained. I would\u2019ve loved that movie, I was told, if I had simply been patient enough to wait for the big payoff at the end.<\/p>\n I countered that Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s movies also have big shock ending payoffs at the end, too, but that Hitch kept the viewer interested<\/em> with taut suspense, a great plot and finely-honed dialogue.<\/p>\n So, I went into Memento<\/em> with a little more patience. I stuck with this one until the bitter end, and it was indeed bitter.<\/p>\n The gimmick in this movie, which I picked up a third of the way into the inaction, is that it is shot in reverse time. Its hero, played by Guy Pearce, must have graduated from the Keanu Reeves School of Cardboard Acting, and suffers from a memory disorder. He can\u2019t remember what happened the day before, so he must reconstruct it physically\u2014with Polaroid shots and body tattoos\u2014to recreate a history of his life, so as not to go totally insane. He also is tracking down a killer (a device borrowed from Hitch). Once he catches the real killer, he can exonerate himself.<\/p>\n But, the story is told with painstakingly pedantic scenes and awkwardly fake understatement. I had no sympathy for the hero at all, and if it weren\u2019t for some very good acting by Carrie Ann Moss and Joe Pantoliano, I probably would have tuned out early.<\/p>\n The main problem with Memento<\/em> is that it tries too hard to be a film noir<\/em> for our times, while ignoring just what it was that made those dark movies so memorable. Combing my mind, I cannot even think of one lesser film noir that was less entertaining than Memento<\/em>, and no, I\u2019m not forgetting Johnny Stool Pigeon<\/em> or Detour<\/em>, either. As far as The Postman Always Rings Twice<\/em>, Out of the Past<\/em>, or White Heat<\/em>, forget about it! Memento<\/em> is so far out of their league that it\u2019s an insult to compare this dreck with those great classics.<\/p>\n Watching movies requires, as we all know, the \u201cwilling suspension of disbelief.\u201d And I\u2019ve got plenty of that suspension: It keeps me well-entertained even by such formulaic movies as The Money Pit<\/em> and Brian\u2019s Song.<\/em> When it comes to movies, I admit to being an escapist.<\/p>\n But, when something is so patently ridiculous that it defies belief, that\u2019s where I draw the line. For example: In order to reconstruct his identity, Pearce been tattooed all over his torso. Okay, fine. I\u2019ll buy that.<\/p>\n However, just look<\/em> at those tattoos: The producers obviously wanted them to look so cool<\/em> that they went whole hog, having a tattoo artist not just scrawl utilitarian messages on his body, but recreate the Sistine Chapel according to Marilyn Manson across his chest and arms. This one affectation comes off as more pretentious than Federico Fellini\u2019s entire oeuvre.<\/em><\/p>\n Of course, there are not many scenes of Pearce actually getting a tattoo. They would be too laughable if actually explicated. However, I can imagine what one scene from the cutting room floor might look like:<\/p>\n PEARCE: I need this message tattooed.<\/p>\n TATTOO GUY: What does it say?<\/p>\n PEARCE: \u201cHe has a gun, and he\u2019s coming for you.\u201d<\/p>\n TATTOO GUY: That\u2019s a lot of words, but if I just use navy blue, I can do it for you pretty cheap.<\/p>\n PEARCE: Cheap? I have $1000. Go to town, man.<\/p>\n TATTOO GUY: Where do you get all that money? I mean, you live in a fleabag hotel, with no obvious means of support.<\/p>\n PEARCE: I got it from Chris Nolan, my director. He said I\u2019ve got to look \u201cscary TATTOO GUY: Wow, that is<\/em> cool. Mot\u00f6rhead\u2019s \u201cSacrifice.\u201d Lots of cool Goth script. This will go perfect with the one I did from that Mercyful Fate t-shirt you brought in last week.<\/p>\n PEARCE: Last week?<\/p>\n TATTOO GUY: Oh, yeah\u2014right. Sorry, dude, forgot.<\/p>\n PEARCE: Anyways, we\u2019re going after the MTV crowd: Nolan told me not to worry too much that there\u2019s nothing really cool about me at all, at least not in the Robert Mitchum or Elvis sense. Nolan said, \u201cimage is everything,\u201d so with these tattoos, and working out at the gym all day, so that my pecs look really ripped, I can\u2019t lose.<\/p>\n TATTOO GUY: Bitchen, dude.<\/p>\n Of course, there is<\/em> a bona-fide shock ending by the time this mess wraps up, but you\u2019ll figure out that Pearce is the killer long before he does.<\/p>\n If you have the intestinal fortitude to sit through this half-hearted art-school film, I recommend Edward Dmytryk’s 1965 classic amnesia thriller Mirage<\/em> as the perfect antidote. A tightly-shot suspense flick in the Hitchcock tradition, Gregory Peck doesn\u2019t need pecs nor tattoos to deliver a convincing performance. Instead, he relies on Peter Stone\u2019s crafty dialogue and brilliant plot. Peck also does something else that has eluded Christopher Nolan and Guy Pearce.<\/p>\n He acts.<\/em><\/p>\n Robert L. Jones is a photojournalist living and working in Minnesota. His work has appeared in\u00a0<\/span>Black & White Magazine<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Entrepreneur<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Hoy! New York<\/span><\/span>, the New York\u00a0<\/span>Post<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/em>RCA Victor\u00a0<\/span>(Japan)<\/span><\/em>,\u00a0<\/span>Scene in San Antonio<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Spirit Magazine<\/span><\/span>\u00a0(Canada),\u00a0<\/span>Top Producer<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0 and the Trenton\u00a0<\/span>Times<\/span><\/span>. Mr. Jones is a past entertainment editor of\u00a0<\/span>The New Individualist<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 Forget About It [xrr rating=2.5\/5] Memento. Starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Russ Fega, Jorja Fox, Stephen Tobolowsky, Harriet Samson Harris, and Thomas Lennon. Screenplay by Christopher Nolan, based on a story by Jonathan Nolan. Directed by Christopher Nolan. (Newmarket Films, 2000, Color, 113 minutes. MPAA Rating: R.) I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,37,3,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dramas","category-independent-films","category-mreview","category-suspense-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions\/331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonesing4movies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\ncool.\u201d Use this CD cover as an example for your fonts.<\/p>\n