Movie Review: Remember Me
I only knew a couple of things about the movie "Remember Me" before I saw it. To start, that it has four recognizable stars; Chris Cooper (has he ever played a good guy character?), Pierce Brosnan (he wears expensive suits, as usual), and up and coming stars Emilie De Ravin (of Lost fame) and Robert Pattinson (ever heard of Twilight?). Next, that much talk and speculation centered on Pattinson, and how this would be his make it or break it role. Would reviewers and audiences give him a thumbs up for other films, or would he flounder, thus strengthening his chances of never truly graduating from his Vampire-pretty-boy-lover role that catapulted him into fame in the first place? What an ironic catch-22 Hollywood stardom can be.
From the trailer of "Remember Me", Pattinson seemed to continue his famous brooding and wooing of a young girl, the only difference being that he was playing a guy in his early twenties in college and not a one-hundred-year-old repeating high school for the umpteenth time. Going into the movie, I had expectations of either liking or loathing Pattinson's performance. I was pleasantly surprised to find the former to be true.
The movie overall was alright. Not stunning, not bad. It was thoughtful and melancholy, the kind of film whose goal seems to be to take your heart out at one point or another while keeping you engaged with pretty actors and an occasional laugh. Each actor had studious shots of them deep in thought or filled with conflicting emotion, so that when someone smiled, it was like a gift bestowed upon the screen. Thankfully, the character of Emilie De Ravin, Pattinson's character's love interest, did a good amount of smiling. The camera wasn't afraid to hone in close on her bright blue eyes and often mischevous grin, which was a good thing.
The plot overall was fairly cliche. Maybe even mostly cliche. The actors themselves had mostly all played their roles before. Chris Cooper plays the closed-fisted father who feels that the best way to show love to his child is by demanding hard work because life is hard (as in "October Sky"). In this instance, he is a tough cop who suffered loss years ago and now is overbearingly protective and expecting of perfection from his smart, free-spirited daughter (De Ravin). Pierce Brosnan is a wealthy business man who also has a difficult time showing love to his son and daughter, and has also experienced family tragedy years before. Both men yell and stammer at their children in well-meant direction that comes from entirely the wrong place. Pattinson is the son who floats between three worlds: that of his college and his self-obsessed roommate buddy, his younger sister whom he adores and who lives with their mom, and his cold, affluent, image-driven father. As in Twilight, Pattinson does plenty of brooding, a requirement both for his vampire role and this one. He has now proved his talent at portraying conflicted characters. So, what else can he do?
Overall however, I felt that Pattinson was a strong presence on-screen. Likable, clever, and interesting, I cared about what happen to his character. His performance may not have been Oscar-worthy, but it was good. He fit his role and made me, the audience, care. If those two things aren't there in the main star, a movie doesn't have much to go on.
Emilie De Ravin also gave a solid performance. Sweetly fresh-faced, quick-witted, and just quirky enough without being weird, she played the part of a daughter who wants to figure things out for herself without the shadow of her protective cop father, especially when that comes to who she's going to date, and makes it look easy. Also interesting to note is that she took on an American accent for the part, covering up her Australian one. I guess that was an easier transition than for Cooper to take on an Australian accent, though if he did it would set his role in "Remember Me" apart from his other similar ones.
"Remember Me" is a film about belonging, uncertainty and angst, family, love, loss and coping. It's interesting but sad, and at the end I understood what they were trying to say, but I wasn't particularly moved by it. It isn't the kind of film that I would rush from the theater and beg my friends to go see. It was alright. Pattinson and De Ravin were good. They were worth watching, in my opinion. In the end, I felt like the actors were better than the story they were telling. I was moved by the actors, but not compelled by the story when the credits rolled. So interestingly, "Remember Me" is a film that I enjoyed while watching, but might not remember all that long.
From the trailer of "Remember Me", Pattinson seemed to continue his famous brooding and wooing of a young girl, the only difference being that he was playing a guy in his early twenties in college and not a one-hundred-year-old repeating high school for the umpteenth time. Going into the movie, I had expectations of either liking or loathing Pattinson's performance. I was pleasantly surprised to find the former to be true.
The movie overall was alright. Not stunning, not bad. It was thoughtful and melancholy, the kind of film whose goal seems to be to take your heart out at one point or another while keeping you engaged with pretty actors and an occasional laugh. Each actor had studious shots of them deep in thought or filled with conflicting emotion, so that when someone smiled, it was like a gift bestowed upon the screen. Thankfully, the character of Emilie De Ravin, Pattinson's character's love interest, did a good amount of smiling. The camera wasn't afraid to hone in close on her bright blue eyes and often mischevous grin, which was a good thing.
The plot overall was fairly cliche. Maybe even mostly cliche. The actors themselves had mostly all played their roles before. Chris Cooper plays the closed-fisted father who feels that the best way to show love to his child is by demanding hard work because life is hard (as in "October Sky"). In this instance, he is a tough cop who suffered loss years ago and now is overbearingly protective and expecting of perfection from his smart, free-spirited daughter (De Ravin). Pierce Brosnan is a wealthy business man who also has a difficult time showing love to his son and daughter, and has also experienced family tragedy years before. Both men yell and stammer at their children in well-meant direction that comes from entirely the wrong place. Pattinson is the son who floats between three worlds: that of his college and his self-obsessed roommate buddy, his younger sister whom he adores and who lives with their mom, and his cold, affluent, image-driven father. As in Twilight, Pattinson does plenty of brooding, a requirement both for his vampire role and this one. He has now proved his talent at portraying conflicted characters. So, what else can he do?
Overall however, I felt that Pattinson was a strong presence on-screen. Likable, clever, and interesting, I cared about what happen to his character. His performance may not have been Oscar-worthy, but it was good. He fit his role and made me, the audience, care. If those two things aren't there in the main star, a movie doesn't have much to go on.
Emilie De Ravin also gave a solid performance. Sweetly fresh-faced, quick-witted, and just quirky enough without being weird, she played the part of a daughter who wants to figure things out for herself without the shadow of her protective cop father, especially when that comes to who she's going to date, and makes it look easy. Also interesting to note is that she took on an American accent for the part, covering up her Australian one. I guess that was an easier transition than for Cooper to take on an Australian accent, though if he did it would set his role in "Remember Me" apart from his other similar ones.
"Remember Me" is a film about belonging, uncertainty and angst, family, love, loss and coping. It's interesting but sad, and at the end I understood what they were trying to say, but I wasn't particularly moved by it. It isn't the kind of film that I would rush from the theater and beg my friends to go see. It was alright. Pattinson and De Ravin were good. They were worth watching, in my opinion. In the end, I felt like the actors were better than the story they were telling. I was moved by the actors, but not compelled by the story when the credits rolled. So interestingly, "Remember Me" is a film that I enjoyed while watching, but might not remember all that long.
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