I believe Teddy is telling the truth at the end too.
Opal, I recommend watching the movie in correct order per NoGoodNamesLeft instructions. You should be warned though that it’s not a smooth re-edit of the movie. It’s just the sections put into correct time sequence.
I love this movie.
I found the limited edition 2 DVD set for 6 bucks at a pawn shop…havent done the code thing yet to watch it all in order yet though
Next time it’s on the movie network I’m copying it. No way you can figure it out without rewind! 
The problem is that if Jankis really existed, Teddy would know it was would be a simple thing to conflate Leonard’s delicate memory.
Somehow, I believe an older wife trying that final gambit over a younger one. That’s why I lean towards “Don’t believe his lies”.
Nope. You don’t. Trust me.
Just kidding. Maybe you do. Post your synopsis, I’d be glad to rip some holes in it.
I would agree with you, but the director (Christopher Nolan) himself has said that there is a “Truth”, and that with close viewing you can figure out exactly what happened; who is good, who is not, and who can be trusted:
So Nolan is either lying or the movie is in fact flawed, and the “Truth” as Nolan sees it has a rip in it.
Or, and this is possible, I just haven’t figured it out yet. I’d be really interested in hearing the theory of anyone who claims to know it all.
I just wrote a long, but lost my connection JUST AS IT WAS GOING THROUGH! The entire thing was lost. This is the Cliff’s Notes version.
It’s unfortunate that Scott Timberg did not see fit to actually quote Nolan’s exact words on the subject. All he provides is his paraphrase of what Nolan said, and I’m not going to call Nolan a liar or his film flawed when he may well have been misunderstood/misinterpreted by Timberg.
Some of the plot holes/inconsistencies with Leonard’s condition that others have pointed out do not strike me as mistakes. About a year after Memento was released someone close to me was involved in a serious accident and left with anterograde memory loss for a couple of months. Based on my personal observation of this condition, Nolan’s depiction is pretty accurate. If Leonard sometimes seems to remember things he shouldn’t be able to (the biggest example of this is one rarely mentioned: his account of how he got the police report) then I see two explanations that are consistent with actual anterograde amnesia.
First of all, people with this condition are prone to confabulation. They don’t mean to lie, but they have so many mental gaps in places where they feel they should know something. Their minds compensate for this by inventing plausible “facts” and “explanations”. They are unaware that they are doing this and may become very defensive when called on it.
Secondly, anterograde amnesia is very rarely permanent. The long-term memories that were never formed in the first place can obviously never be “recovered”, but the ability to form new memories usually does return in time. It is possible that Leonard is starting to get better. But if he is, does he realize it? Perhaps more importantly, would he truly want to realize it?
The thing that makes me think Teddy is telling the truth to Lenny at the “end” is that he never tries to take any advantage of the story he tells. And of course, he would have to take immediate advantage, because he knows Lenny is going to forget the story in a few minutes anyway. I’ll believe Teddy was lying when I know what motive he had for lying.
I have my own theory on the movie:
Lenny is faking.
He may have told himself the lie so many times that he believes it, but I don’t think he ever really had the condition.
I realized this when Teddy said, about the Sammy Jankis story, “It keeps getting better every time you tell it.”
The implication is that Lenny keeps revising his story to suit his needs, whether he realizes it or not, and the only way Teddy can keep Lenny’s confidence is to know the latest version of the story. This explains why Teddy had to call him at the start to hear the Sammy Jankis story (the black-and-white scenes).
There are other things that show signs of habit - particularly how he says “You see, I have this condition” the same way every time, and these are consistent with what he said his condition allows. But the Sammy Jankis story, even if it was once based in fact, has long since become absorbed by Lenny’s desire to eliminate everything from his world except the desire for revenge.
The main point we are missing here is obvious.
A spoiler below.
The second or third time we see Lennard with Natalie at her house, they get in a fight. Natalie staged the fight by citing the condition of Lenny’s condition was due to his wife. [The next parts may be out of order, but are all in the same scene… no difference in plot] Natalie then scours her house for pens. Natalie takes all of the pens and hides them in her purse. Lenny tries to “Keep it in mind, focus” etc… but does not get to write down the face that they both just had a fight. Natalie leaves and comes back in after some time, and uses Dodd as her excuse for the scars that Lenny gave her.
Compare this to what Teddy/John G. Says later (not verbatim, but again nothing is lost) "She will use you and take advantage of you, Here TAKE MY PEN and write it down, you do not want to be messing her. I think this is a Key Statment… and it I only picked up this exchange’s true value after my 4th or 5th viewing.
I think that Sammy Jenkis IS Lenny. As others have posted, and the links above direct to, you can see the stills that show Lenny in the home or hospital. Perhaps “Remember Sammy Jenkis” should be read as “Remember (you are) Sammy Jenkis”. I have THREE reasons to base this. First, we have the flashback that Lenny “Pinched” his wife… right where Sammy’s wife gets her shot… In fact these two scenes are played together at one point in the film. Second, Durring the Tests that Sammy takes, Conditoning is touted as a method to cope, yet Sammy never catches on. Does Lenny ever catch on to the fact that he has already “solved” and “murdered” John G/Jimmy Grantz …
Finally, The last Black and white scene, which is the only part of the film that goes “forward” (I think it safe to claim this) turns INTO a color scene… there is no Cut.
Im sure I will post more later, but lets let this be for a while.
Two edits to my last post
1.That sleeping with His Wife, Lenny got his Condition. Natalie uses Langauge that I think single handedly give Memento its R rating.
2.I beleive all the B/W scenes are Forward moving.
Assuming you watched the movie if you came this far down in the post, I will no longer post Spoiler Messages.
Durring the movie, and durring a Black and White scene, (I think perhaps over two Black and Whites) Lenny discovers the Tattoo “Never Answer The Phone”.
(It is a “profesional” tatt, so perhaps this means “vital importance”…I mean, to take the time to go to the parlor would to me indicate that this “note” needs to stay around for some time.)
Yet, Durring the exchange with Burt in the Office/Front Desk, Lenny always says, “You’ve been holding my calls” [Burt Nods and agrees] then Lenny offers “Okay, good but this guy is an exception” [indicates Teddys Poloroid]
One of these was done before the other, and perhaps on further discussion it will be discovered as a “flaw” But, The fact that The tatt was covered, could mean that Lenny knew to some extent that ‘Teddy’ (we should say John G. since he is the police man on the phone) is Legit, and wont abuse the situation.
Sorry to hog the thread right now, just that I am comming up with more key points. Hold on for one second… Ok, I was looking at my Region 1 DVD case… more on that in a second.
Some more loose Ends I am just now recalling. (Again Im rusty, but know that these scenes occur)
The building where Lenny Shoots Teddy… Is this in any vicinity to Lennys house?
What is Burt Smoking when he is in the back room. Does he have connections to the Drug Dealer… Grantz?
Then there is the Entire exchange with Natalie asking what tattoo will cover Lenny’s Heart, he Says “I dont know, perhaps thats for when I kill him” Yet we see later that LEnny is pointing to his heart in a Poloroid… Isnt this pic then burned later?
It’s blatantly obvious that Memento is actualy an unattributed prequel to the Matrix. Once you understand that, everything makes sense.
Carrie Otis and Joey Pants are actually reprising their roles in the Matrix in this movie.
As Wire and Trinity, they have inserted into the Matrix and they are trying to get an earlier version of Neo to wake up to the fact that he is “The One.”
Leonard of course is in denial as to the fact that he is The One, and is using his condition as a method of avoidance so that he doesn’t have to confront the memory of being Keanu Reeves.
See? It all makes sense.
Some Memories are Best Forgotten… this Caption is under a Picture of Natalie… Also vebatim from the back of the Region 1 case which I bought a year ro a year and a half ago (In case it has changed)
“Memento has blown the minds of audiences around the world-by deftly forging a reality in which neither the lead character or the audience knows who is pulling the strings… until everything that seemed true flips upside down.”
Wouldn’t this Prove Natalie as a Rival, and Teddy as an Ally?
(Recall that Tralier that uses these words…) Also DVDers, look to the interview, perhaps that will shine new light also.
ok Meeko I just have to ask…
Why the random capitalization?
He was being rather sarcastic though, and that is the kind of thing you say (sarcastically) to someone who repeats the same story over and over. I don’t think he really meant that it was different or better.
I don’t so much believe Teddy as I don’t believe Lenny. How can you trust Lenny, he even provides his own condemnation when Teddy tell shim that it’s his wife that is diabetic Lenny says, “No, my wife wasn’t diabetic, I think I know my own wife.” Or something like that. But earlier in the movie, Teddy and Lenny are in a diner and Lenny condemns memory as being unreliable, facts are what is important. But his whole motivation is based on what he claims to remember.
If he’s faking then he’s a damn fool, and the movie does not otherwise portray him as an unintelligent man. Leonard gets into all kinds of trouble because of his (supposed) condition. He risks his life going after Dodd, something that has nothing to do with his personal quest for vengeance. I think if he were capable of remembering that Natalie was trying to use him then he could have found some way to avoid the situation.
It is possible that Leonard’s memory problem is psychological – or even psychosomatic – rather than physical, but that is not at all the same thing as simply faking it. And since the film gives us no reason to doubt that Leonard really did sustain a severe head injury, I wouldn’t be too quick to dismiss the idea that he is actually suffering from real, physical neurological problems.
But then, if Teddy was so familiar with the story, why did he have to make Lenny tell it to him all over again on the phone in the black-and-white scenes that take place prior to the events in the movie?
I think that when his wife died, Lenny needed something to grab onto to make living possible again. He couldn’t forgive himself for failing to save his wife, and he remembered Sammy Jankis, a man for whom life simply stopped happening. This appealed to a part of Lenny’s mind, and he shaped his whole world around having this condition - even if he doesn’t really have the condition at all.
I think he believes he has the condition - that he doesn’t form new memories because his mindset won’t let him - but that only Teddy has been with him long enough to know that there’s more to Lenny than even Lenny can tell us. I think it’s a plausible interpretation - Lenny doesn’t form new memories because he prefers to believe he can’t.
:smack: Geez. Of course! Lenny is the One! Why didn’t I see that before?
Real Simple:
Lenny <b>was</b> faking. That is, he really did have damage after the attack, but he got better at the hospital. For some reason, he needed the insurance money and decided to continue with his illness.
The wife decided to test him. He counted on his wife’s instinct for survial to kick in, and didn’t count on her determination to either expose him as a fake or “prove” that he really was ill.
She trusted his love would protect her from himself; he counted on her love for herself to stop him. They both make a big mistake.
That mistake cost her, her life and shattered his mind. He can’t live with what he’s done and so ‘forgets’ it and everything else.
So while Lenny <b>is</b> faking, it is no longer a conscious act… which is why he appears to remember some things at some times. His subconscious is kicking in and bypassing his “conditioning.”
the end.