Remember Me
Posted on June 23, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Robert Pattinson has gone from brooding, adoring Bella, saving Bella, and trying not to kill anyone in the Twilight movies to “Remember Me,” a J.D. Salinger-esque tale that has him brooding, adoring Ally (played by the vampire-esquely named Emilie de Ravin), saving various people, and trying not to kill anyone.
He plays Tyler, the son of a Wall Street tycoon (Pierce Brosnan) and big brother to the precocious Caroline (played by “Nurse Jackie’s” Ruby Jerins, and by far the film’s best and most interesting character). He is 21 and not quite in school, auditing courses. He meets Ally, but he does not tell her that the meeting was orchestrated by his roommate Aiden (Tate Ellington) as a part of an a vague and not very focused revenge plot. Her father, an angry cop (Chris Cooper) beat Tyler up and arrested them both when they got into a fight trying to defend some passers-by against some thugs.
Tyler and Ally begin to get acquainted and it turns out they have something in common. Ten years earlier, in 1991, she was with her mother in a subway station when she was murdered by two guys stealing her purse. And a few years earlier, on his 22nd birthday, Tyler’s older brother committed suicide. Tyler was the one who found him. Loss is isolating. It destroys our trust in the essential rightness of things. Tyler and Ally begin to find a way to feel connection, and hope.
Tyler is furious at his father for neglecting Caroline. Ally is furious at hers for striking her. This, too, connects them. And then, Ally finds out what led Tyler to approach her and feels betrayed. And then, some really bad stuff happens that will, depending on your age and inclination, will either seem deep and meaningful and transcendent or will seem manipulative and cheesy. I’m in that latter category.
There’s a lot to like in this film. The scenes with Tyler and Ally are touching and the Tyler’s relationship with Caroline feels warm and genuine. The first-filmed script by Will Fetters shows promise. Its rookie flaws are forgivable and its strengths show great promise.
Nell,
I gave this one slightly higher marks than you did. Mostly because it was better than I expected. I expected it to be cliche-filled with characters as shallow as pieces of paper. However, all of the characters (with the exception of Tyler, not sure if that was writing or Pattinson’s fault…we’ll see after his next couple films if he can break out of this character) were actually quite deep and interesting. I LOVED Caroline and Charles Hawkins (Brosnan). The roommate was great as well.
All in all, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It won’t be for everyone, but I enjoyed the characters and their interactions.
http://www.examiner.com/x-9207-Baltimore-Movie-Examiner~y2010m3d12-Movie-review-Remember-Me-825-out-of-10
Thanks!
Well, not much reason to see the movie now, you pretty much told everyone what it was about…I don’t deny that Remember Me weighs heavily on the emotional side and could make for a lot of questions from younger viewers but I highly recommend it for adults..It wouldn’t hurt us to remember that we have emotions and perhaps a movie like this jolts us into dealing with a few of our own. I am shocked that a woman reviewer would sell the story line and characters in this movie so short. TV is full of images a lot worse than this movie depicted with more than some being on the family channels but you think this movie is bad?
Thanks, Moksu. I’m always glad when someone sees more in a movie than I do. And I am sorry you feel I gave away too much — I try to be sensitive about spoilers, but this movie does not make much of an effort to hide where it is going and my description goes no further than the movie’s official press materials. What you might think of as giving away too much, is what I need to include to give parents and others who are sensitive about content the guidance they need to make a wise decision.
I liked a lot about the movie, as I said, so I don’t think I was selling it short. But I felt that its conclusion was so heavy-handed I could not recommend it. My grade was based on its overall merits and not specifically on its suitability for any age group or relative maturity of content compared to what else is out there but I do advise that it is for mature teens to adults as you can see from my review.
Thanks, Tom! I liked the film but felt cheated by the ending. Without that, I would have given it a positive review. I’m interested to see what this writer does next.
Yeah, I thought it was cheating as well. I even said that in my review too. Even though I put the ending in my “The Good” section I did say that it cheated by ending in a way that touched everyone emotionally; a way you couldn’t be upset about. It was totally unnecessary too because the film was doing a fine job getting us emotionally invested in the characters and didn’t need to cheat. So, even though I liked the ending, I completely agree with you that they cheated.
Thanks!
Unlike some of you, I appreciate the details. Without them I would have to go see the movie first, then decide if it was too mature for my 13-year-old to see. With detailed reviews, I can make the decision and only go see the movie once… with my daughter. I know that is not what everyone wants, but it works for me, so Thank You from my perspective.
Thank you, Traci. That’s exactly what I hope for!
Personally, I was extremely disappointed! This movie was absolutely great, I loved it…that is until the ending happened. I was literally leaving the theater in tears, the ending was just thrown on there from another movie, it made no sense to the movie and had nothing to do with it. Not to mention that the movie is supposed to be showing you about real life and that things happen and to live life to the fullest. However, it wasn’t real life because although life is full of tragedy, there is also great in the world. So my question is why? SPOILER ALERT: Why does the director need to kill off the main character after everything in his life is finally coming back together? And why? Why should Ally need to suffer dealing yet, another death of someone she loves dearly? Makes me wonder what should happen to the rest of her life? Will there be a sequel where she dies too? Not only for Ally, but for his younger sister. And for Tyler’s parents..to lose 2 children? The ending was absolutely ridiculous! If I buy the movie….I will never watch the ending…I will watch until he and Ally are together for the last time and leave it at that. This movie’s ending completely killed the movie!!!
Thanks, Carissa — as you can see in my review, I agree with you. While they lay the foundation for a tragic ending right from the start, it seemed overdone and unfair. I appreciate your comment very much.
@ Carissa – I very much relate to how you feel about the ending…. I too finished that movie in tears. And while it did seem a little extreme, in a way that’s what I liked about it. Because yea, finally towards the end of the movie he began getting his life together and seeing the bigger picture, but that’s just that. But there are too many movies with a happy ending where the protagonist ends happily ever after.
I personally liked how it ended. I was definitely shocked and hadn’t expected it to suddenly be 9/11. I at first wondered why he was watching American Pie in the movie theatre. Then, in that last clip when they showed his sister’s teacher write September 11, 2001 on the chalk board I started to figure things out.
But the movie isn’t fully about how it ended… its about the journey to the end. Sure he finally finds himself only to be gone soon after. But that’s why we looked at the Ghandi quote “everything you do in life will seem insignificant, but its important you do it anyway.” When he dies it feels like everything was for nothing… but it absolutely wasn’t.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised about the movie. I had little faith in Robert Pattinson and thought it would be as deep as a child’s baby pool. It actually inspired me to write a blog post based on the Ghandi quote that was mentioned several times in the movie too.