Movie Review: “Remember Me”
Franck Tabouring
Seen on: March 13, 2010
The players: Director: Allen Coulter, Writer: Will Fetters, Cast: Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Chris Cooper, Pierce Brosnan, Tate Ellington
Facts of interest: Allen Coulter also helmed "Hollywoodland."
The plot: A young man who struggles with the death of his brother meets and falls for a young woman whose mother was murdered when she was a kid.
Our thoughts: Will I remember Allen Coulter’s tragic drama “Remember Me” in a week? Chances are I won’t, but believe it or not, it’s actually not Robert Pattinson’s fault. The guy who lacks bite in the “Twilight” flicks really manages to deliver a better performance here, but sadly enough, it’s the script he’s working with that doesn’t stick.
Written by Will Fetters, “Remember Me” stars Pattinson in the role of Tyler, a troubled young man struggling with the suicide of his older brother and the consequent collapse of his family. Tyler pulled back to live inside his own grim world after what happened, and he’s been having trouble breaking out of it ever since.
Things start to change a bit when he meets Ally (Emilie de Ravin), a young woman who’s been wrestling with a dark past as well. Her mother was murdered in front of her when she was a kid, and she’s been growing up with her overprotective dad (Chris Cooper), who also happens to be a cop. Meeting Tyler brings new hope into her life.
This sets the stage for what follows in “Remember Me,” a film with good intentions that aims pretty high in depicting its thematic but doesn’t take long until it starts to fall apart. As a matter of fact, I found myself yawning just 30 minutes in. Coulter’s direction keeps things moving at a slow pace, and Fetters’ story just doesn’t pan out.
I certainly don’t want to give away the whole drama here, but suffice it to say that the problems these characters encounter throughout the movie simply reach a little too over the top at times. Tragedy really strikes hard and emotions fly around uncontrollably in this film, and the characters are not portrayed as interesting enough to make it all worth the while.
In fact, all the drama these folks encounter doesn’t make any of them any more interesting or likeable. It also doesn’t move the storyline forward in a compelling way. Then all of a sudden, a series of sudden events and twists hit everybody hard enough, and next thing you know, it seems like everybody is feeling better in an instant.
Instead of stopping right there, “Remember Me” then takes it all to the next level, using a real-life tragedy (I won’t reveal which one) to push the dramatic element of the story even further and slap everyone with an extra wake-up call. Does it work? For me it certainly didn’t.
But enough about my dislike of the plot. The performances in this film are above average, and I was even positively surprised by Pattinson’s job. Dude finally has some color in his face. More surprising however is De Ravin, who brightens up the scenes she’s in and actually makes her romance with Tyler work for the most part.
Freaky quote: "He can stand me up, but he can't stand you up." - Robert Pattinson, smoking angry
The final word: Rob’s loyal fans will be too busy watching him to really take in what all is going on around him, which is why I can see the film earning positive feedback from a particular group of cinemagoers. For me, there’s just too much going on in “Remember Me,” and nothing really worked together well enough to keep me engaged. No need to remember this one.
Article by Franck Tabouring
Reader Comments (6)
I saw the movie with an open mind and disregarded those critics that were negative about it. The movie got good reviews from some of the more respected critics, like USA today and Roger Ebert, to name a few. Anyway, the movie was brilliant and my take on it was that it was a beautiful love story and a very touching tribute to the events of the day, a reminder that sometimes we get lost in numbers and forget that each and every individual that was taken that day had their own personal story. Robert's acting was amazing and should silence the critics once and for all. He is in Hollywood to stay that's for sure, so for all those negative critics out there - just suck it up.
I totally agree with the comment #1 (Elise). Very well said! In my opinion, the movie is touching & exceptional and Robert's performance is just brilliant. This film is deep and complex and you have to think and pay attention to totally understand & "take in" this movie. Maybe this is the reason why many critics don't like it as the movie lacks simplicity that apparently many Americans like.
Well, the movie is good enough where we can get some lessons particularly in managing our families that we often neglect, truly a real picture of our society today. The only thing that i did not like is that, it's too tragic. The writer could end it happier than it was plotted to signify hope. Tyler could just forgive his father so all of them can start a new life. There's so much that we can do and life could be happier if we could just learn to forgive and forget and pick up all the broken pieces to make it a whole again, life will be better than good. For this movie, i rate it 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.
The movie's ending, characters, storyline, and music all stay with you for days afterwards. It seems impossible to market except by word-of-mouth. I admire everyone involved in the firm for taking it on.
I think the movie remember me is compelling. The actors did a great job. Rob Pattinson showed us that he will be around for a long time in the field of acting. The story line and the music went together like a pair of gloves. I find myself at odds with critics, it seems that being a critic has lost that person the ability to see the real subject. I went to see the movie with George Clooney, "The American" it was soooooo bad but because it is George Clooney the critics gave it 4 stars. This is why I don't listen to the critics..Remember me is a wonderful tapestry of life's events and tragedies we would be very lucky if more of these films were made. Thumbs up to this cast..........................
I got a heck of a lot more out of this movie than I thought I would. I would have been happy if the movie had ended with Tyler looking at his dad's computer screen. I'll admit when presented with the way it really ended I was left thinging, "I did not see that coming. Why? Why do that?" When the credits rolled though I felt like it did indeed make perfect sense and made for a more honest ending that left me feeling and thinking, "Ouch." I agree with Elise. We get lost in numbers and forget the personal stories. To me the sign of a good movie is if it left me thinking about for a few days, and this one did.