Even though this movie was pretty good as a whole, it continuously made me question which characters were telling the truth and who were telling lies. Unfortunately, it left my mind in a spin and I could not figure out what to believe until the end. The ending scene where Leonard is in the abandoned house with Teddy was the most appealing scene to me. Teddy reveals at the end what the truth of Leonard life is. He said that you have already avenged your wife's murder, "But when you killed him I, I was so convinced that you'd remember."(Imbd) But the truth to Leonard is that he never killed the murderer of his wife. Teddy goes on even further by informing him that his wife was a diabetic and that Leonard was the one who overdosed her with insulin. Teddy makes it known to Leonard that Leonard himself created this character, Sammy Jankis, as a part of his story and the whole situation from his memory loss condition to his wife's murder. Leonard questions Teddy's claims with his own, " You don't think I know my own wife! She was not a diabetic...Jankis was a real client his wife came to me..." Leonard informs Teddy that he has all the evidence to go along with his wife's murder, but Teddy says that Leonard removed some of the content from the file to make this story. This whole conversation about what is the truth and the lie in Leonard's mission reminds me of what professor Schwartz had said,"...manipulation makes the lie the truth...". So then who is telling truth?
When Teddy says that Leonard was the one who pumped insulin into his wife's body, it got me confused about the rape, murder, and the Sammy Jankis story as well. I did not know what to believe. So, now I am left with a man who has no mental condition and is sane on one hand, Teddy. On the other hand, there is a man who has a mental condition due to an accident who relives his wife's murder investigation everyday, Leonard. Who should I believe? Leonard unfolds the ultimate truth to his survival. "We all lie to ourselves to be happy...I'm not a killer. I'm just someone who wanted to make things right. Can't I just let myself forget what you've told me? Can't I just let myself forget what you've made me do. You think I just want another puzzle to solve? Another John G. to look for? You're John G. So you can be my John G...Will I lie to myself to be happy? In your case Teddy... yes I will." (Imdb) This is the truth of Momento.
I like your inclusion of the story about Sammy. As you said, we were confused throughout the whole movie and trying to put to figure everything out. We were with Leonard, putting the pieces together as he got them, trying to figure out who was friend and who was foe. But then at the end of the movie, we find out that the movie itself was leading us on the whole time. We find out that vengeful Leonard was actually the villain. Now we don't even know if Sammy was real or if he was Leonard in disguise.
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