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Reader comments on
Subject: Re: Some continutiy issues
Date: Jun 17, 2002
These are interesting points. I can only offer a couple of guesses:
2. Why did Leonard fabricate a story about some guys with the same memory disorder?
It's possible that Leonard has lost his memory because of some combination of physical injury and psychological block. It's possible that he actually gave his wife the lethal insulin (as is hinted at for one instant in the movie) and his memories of that time are unreliable. Then this shock is part of what sent him over the edge.
3. Why wouldn't Leonard just kill Teddy right away instead of concocting a scheme?
Partly, I think you just have to accept that he did -- otherwise there's no story. And there's not a clear reason to think he *wouldn't* do such a thing. But my guess is that he didn't trust himself to remember this plan long enough to walk over and kill him. (I usually don't remember what I went to the kitchen for in the 30 seconds it takes to get up and walk there, so this wouldn't surprise me.)
Joshua
Editor, Offoffoff.com
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Re: Some continutiy issues
Legitimate issues all. Most of those bothered me upon my first viewing as well, but I was able to dismiss them then, given filmâs confusing chronological structure, as things that would no doubt be explained later. They never are, and the more scrutiny one applies to the film the more one gets the sinking feeling that they are simply flaws the director hoped to bury in the films baffling, flip-flop chronology. Even after my FIRST viewing, the two BIGGEST things that bothered me (and still do) were:
1. Why does Leonard put on Jimmyâs clothes and steal his car? There is no logical reason in the world for him to do this, and no satisfactory (or even unsatisfactory) explanation is given. It might not bother me so much except that so much of what follows (chronologically) afterwards hinges on him having done this.
2. For Leonard to have fabricated a story about some guy with his same memory disorder to whom he denied an insurance claim and upon whom to project his own story in order to allay his guilt over his wife WOULD REQUIRE HIM TO HAVE MEMORY OF EVENTS AFTER HIS INJURY. A truly unforgivable inconsistency, especially when you look at all the supplementary material on the DVD and website that would have you believe this interpretation of the story.
3. A third one: why would Leonard concoct such an elaborate and risky scheme to get his revenge on Teddy? Why not just kill him outright out of anger for having been manipulated? Because then heâd miss out on the delicious irony? That strikes me as kind of stupid.
Salon.com nails this one. However, if you do as Salon suggests (view the movie entirely in correct chronological sequence, starting with the B&W scenes then the color ones in reverse order), I think youâll find (perhaps much to your disappointment) that although certain things finally make more sense, the overall story does not hold up logically. This was a rare case where repeated viewings actually made me like the movie LESS.
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Comment index:
ACDG-C from James Drummond, Jun 29, 2001
» Re: Some continutiy issues « from Joshua, Jun 17, 2002
ACDG-C from James Drummond, Jun 29, 2001
» Re: Some continutiy issues « from Joshua, Jun 17, 2002
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