Leonard (Guy Pearce is an insurance investigator, who's memory has been damaged following a head injury he sustained after intervening on his wife's murder. His quality of life has been severely hampered after this event, and he can now only live a comprehendable life by tattooing notes on himself, and taking pictures of things with a Polaroid camera. The movie is told in forward flashes of events that are to come that compensate for his unreliable memory, during which he has liaisons with various complex characters. Leonard badly wants revenge for his wife's murder, but, as numourous characters explain, there may be little point if he won't remember it in order to provide a satisfying feel to him. The movie veers between these future occurrences, and a telephone conversation Leonard is having in his motel room, in which he compares his current state to that of a client whose claim he once dealt with. Summary written by {tgraham@currantbun.com} 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 the head 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? Who's manipulating whom?

release year: 2000

star(s): Carrie Anne Moss    Guy Pearce