Movie: ‘Remember Me’
In Theaters: March 12, 2010
Director: Allen Coulter
Rating: PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language and smoking
If ‘Twilight’ fans are expecting to see Robert Pattinson in another romantic fantasy movie, then they’d best keep away from ‘Remember Me.’ There’s a little romance there, but the movie is mostly dramatic family tension. And while it’s rated PG-13, it veers dangerously close to an R rating.
The beginning of the movie sets things up for us. We see young Ally on a subway platform with her mom, as two thugs lurk nearby. Tragedy happens and Ally grows up without a mom, saddled with the emotional burden of seeing her mom senselessly murdered.
Jump ahead ten years – to the summer of 2001 — and Ally (Emilie de Ravin) is living with her dad (Chris Cooper), an NYPD cop who because of the murder ten years earlier, is extremely protective of his daughter. But she’s a student at NYU, so like it or not, he’s forced to let her go off into the city on her own.
Meanwhile, we have Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson), a moody kid with a four-day stubble who’s auditing college classes and working in a bookstore. He smokes too many cigarettes and lives in a filthy apartment with his college buddy Aiden (Tate Ellington). We learn that Tyler’s been emotionally wounded, not only by the suicide of his older brother ten years earlier, but also by the strained relationship with his father (Pierce Brosnan), a hot shot lawyer with lots of cash who spends very little time with his kids.
Tyler’s mother has remarried, and his little sister (Ruby Jerins) has her own problems connecting with other kids at school. She’s a brilliant artist with a show coming up, and she hopes her dad will be there.
Just writing all of this makes me want to jump off a cliff. Oh, the movie is well made, and the actors are certainly up to the task of their roles. But it’s all so self involved. The story centers on Tyler and Ally, how fate brings them together in the beginning and how their relationship progresses. But you’re watching it going, man, these people lead such dismal lives. Why am I sitting here getting all involved in their depressing stuff?
And the ending REALLY made me want to jump off a cliff. I won’t say what happens, because it’d be a major spoiler, but let’s just say it’s a twist you don’t see coming and involves a major event in our country’s history. Ok, that’s probably too much right there.
Pattinson is like an ultra-grungy Edward Cullen whose penchant for cigarettes gives him a sort of James Dean-type feel. But, again, this isn’t a movie for the ‘Twilight’ crowd. The themes are too intense, there’s a sex scene (though no nudity is shown), and the f-bomb is even dropped at one point.
If you like self-involved family dramas with brooding characters and tragedies at every turn, then you’ll like ‘Remember Me.’ If not, you’d best skip it, lest you end up digging yourself out of a hole for days on end. Here’s the trailer…
Images: Summit Entertainment
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