Movie Review Rewind: Remember Me (2010)

Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2010 for a look at Robert Pattinson in Remember Me on the latest Movie Review Rewind.

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For the most part, Remember Me is a well-crafted and well-acted romantic drama. It has its fair share of emotion and letting the feelings reveal themselves. But the movie overwhelms the audience and itself with tragedy after tragedy. In some ways, it is quite a downer. Actually, in a lot of ways it is a downer.

Remember Me is built around two people living in New York City who are trying to live their lives and find their way. Tyler (Robert Pattinson) and Ally (Emilie de Ravin) meet because of a bet, but perhaps they were meant to meet anyway. They live very familiar lives and have a lot in common, but not in a good way. Tyler and his dad (Pierce Brosnan) have become estranged from each other ever since his brother killed himself. Tyler does not want anything from his father. Nothing. Ally watched the murder of her mother, and ever since, it has just been her and her dad (Chris Cooper). He is a dad, so he worries, of course. Ally is his only daughter, but she is growing up and growing apart from him.

So, both of the main characters have father issues. But Tyler and Ally share each other’s pain and maybe this is what brings them even closer together. They know how one another feels, because they both know what tragedy can do to a person and their family. Almost the whole film is about how they deal with their problems and how they cope. The story is about growing as a person, being able to forgive, and the process of healing.

I must say that I was impressed with Pattinson’s performance. I know who he is because of the Twilight Saga, but those movies don’t show off his acting skills. Those movies really don’t show off anything, but that is for a different time. He really shows what he can do in this film and his character has real problems that he must confront. One of the best things in the film is Tyler’s relationship with his little sister. It is a real friendship between two people. Pattinson is able to embrace his character, especially during the scenes with his sister and Ally. He reveals himself to them and shows his vulnerability.

Emilie de Ravin does a wonderful job playing Ally. Her chemistry with Pattinson is pretty strong and they share a lot of scenes that show the right amount of emotion without going overboard. The great thing about Remember Me is they have two young actors being the center of the story, but the film has two veteran actors to help it. Cooper is a great actor who plays a lot of characters and he has played a concerned father before (American Beauty), but he is able to play a father who knows his daughter is growing up and he cannot do anything about it. He lost one lady in his life already and he does not want to lose the other one. And Cooper switches from the caring dad to the strict cop in a blink of an eye and he does it at the right time every time.

Then we have Brosnan who comes across as a prick in the film. Tyler hates him so we find ourselves doing the same. And we get some help from some early conversations he has with Tyler. But we do not really know the man and how he feels. We know Tyler has lost his brother, but we forget that Brosnan has lost one of his sons. And one of the best scenes is when Tyler confronts him in his office and these two guys go at it. And seeing them act off one another and bringing up everything from their past is exciting to watch. It is the showdown that you wait for and you know will happen.

The biggest flaw of Remember Me is its ending. Some people have said it was offensive, but I didn’t really think so. I think the ending was just unnecessary. The same point could have been made without that specific ending. I believe the message from the conclusion is knowing what is important and never knowing what each day will bring, but that meaning could have been delivered in several other ways.

The film has a great leading man and lady and they really work well with each other. Having Brosnan and Cooper only helps the film and elevate its story. Like I said before, Remember Me is a really good romantic drama that has emotion and passion. But the movie hurts itself by piling up tragedies on the shoulders of their characters and the ending is the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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