Your report on the SUV was very well presented and researched. Our current plight in regards to increased pollution and fuel costs is due to the SUV mentality versus m.p.g. And worse, the carnage on the roads will only increase as the younger and less experienced drivers start snatching up the cheaper second-hand SUV's that are starting to invade the marketplace.

Signed,

"Tremblin' in my 'Infiniti' "

Maybe we'll get lucky and the world will run out of gasoline before then.
-- N-M

WARNING: Serious spoilers ahead concerning the movie Memento.

I just saw Memento and I have to give it high points for originality and creativity. As you point out, it holds your interest and keeps you thinking throughout the entire film. I also agree that the ending was somewhat of an anticlimactic disappointment. As you suggest, I may have to go see it a second time just to put the pieces together unless you can help me with the following questions:

1. Why was the drug dealer, Dodd, chasing after Guy Pearce with a gun in the first place? Was it just because he was driving the other drug dealer's car? Once he saw Pearce, he must have known that he wasn't the other guy.

Dodd was involved in dealing drugs with Jimmy (Carrie-Anne Moss's boyfriend). When Jimmy disappeared with $200,000 (some of which presumably belonged to Dodd), Dodd was leaning on Moss for an explanation. In one of the scenes in her house, Moss relates to Pearce that she told Dodd she'd seen a guy wearing Jimmy's jacket and driving Jimmy's car, inferring that the person must have been involved in Jimmy's disappearance. When Pearce asks her, "Why'd you tell him that?", she replies "I had to tell him something." So when Dodd sees Jimmy's car, he figures Pearce must be the guy involved in Jimmy's disappearance. He didn't actually shoot at Pearce until he started to flee. Up until that point, he'd drawn the gun only to threaten Pearce into telling what he knew of Jimmy's whereabouts.

2. When Pearce took the jacket from the other drug dealer, why did it have a bar coaster that said, "Go and see Natalie," if Natalie was already the drug dealer's girlfriend?

Pantoliano tells Pearce earlier that Natalie contacted Jimmy regarding drug deals by writing notes to him on the bar coasters and slipping them to him with his drinks. I guess we're supposed to assume this particular note was meant to inform Jimmy of an upcoming deal (i.e., see Natalie later for the details), but I admit the whole plot point is extremely weak. Obviously, the movie's real reason for the note's existence is to instigate Pearce's original meeting with Natalie.

3. Why did Teddy go to the tattoo parlor and tell Pearce that the undercover cop who had been staking out his room was laughing at him?

Pearce's unexpected commandeering of Jimmy's jacket and car made it a lot more likely that someone would connect him with Jimmy's disappearance, and implicate Pantoliano in the process. Hence, Pantoliano is very eager to get Pearce to leave town. By telling Pearce that the cop who's been calling him is not on Pearce's side, he's trying to frighten Pearce into fleeing. Of course, we later learn that Pantoliano is the cop who has been calling Pearce - remember, Pearce can't remember the caller's voice.

Among the questions and plot weaknesses I personally found:

1. The fact that Pearce takes Jimmy's jacket and car drives much of the later plot happenings. But how plausible is it that you'd want to surround yourself with the possessions of someone you believed raped and murdered your wife?

2. The believability of Jimmy recognizing Pearce when they meet is tenuous at best. Pantoliano states that Jimmy ran his drug operations out of the Discount Motel (the place where Pearce was staying), and that the motel manager told Jimmy all about Pearce (huh?) This still doesn't explain how Jimmy recognizes him so easily.

3. Unless I missed something, Pearce's fear of talking on the phone is never really explained. When he's conversing with the "cop", he suddenly uncovers his tattoo which reads "Never answer the phone" and the caller abruptly hangs up when Pearce asks his identity. But what originally inspired him to get the tattoo?

4. Will someone please explain to me again where Pearce originally gets the idea he's searching for a "John G. or Jimmy G."? I think it has something to do with all the notes he has scribbled down, but I'm not sure.

-- N-M