Remember Me

In this interest of critical objectivity, I should point out that the reason I went to go see Remember Me is because of Tate Ellington, the actor who plays Aidin, the main character’s best friend. Although I can’t ever remember meeting him personally, he went to my high school and graduated about the same time as my older brother. Needless to say, a home-town boy making good on his dreams, while common, is always an exciting narrative when you get to see it play out. If only I could likewise commend the rest of the movie.

Remember Me tells the story of Tyler Hawkins (Twilight’s Robert Pattinson), a disaffected 22 year-old whose biggest problem seems to be that he wishes his father (Pierce Brosnan) were more emotionally invested in the life of their family. Tyler seems to project a vague sense of blame upon his father for the suicide of his older brother six years before. However, the only thing Tyler himself is good at is being a family man, especially in the deft way he provides support for his artistically-inclined younger sister, Caroline (Ruby Jerins).

The other important thread in the plot of the movie is his semi-torrid young love affair with Ally Craig (Lost’s Emilie de Ravin). Ally is the daughter of a policeman (Chris Cooper) who is notable because a) he rearranged Tyler’s face in a fit of minor police brutality, and b) he is haunted by his wife’s murder at the hands of muggers. He is overprotective of Ally to the point where he beats her once on screen. It’s ambiguous whether this is an aberration or a pattern, but domestic violence is inexcusable I suppose, although a clearer understanding would clarify Ally’s judgment a bit.

I thought everybody did a fine job of acting—for the most part—with the material they had to work with. Although some critics seem to be wringing their hands with James Dean comparisons, I thought Pattinson was much closer to channeling James Van Der Beek.

I guess it’s unfair to be harder on de Ravin simply because I watch her on Lost every week, but I could occasionally her Australian accent break through when he she had to do something challenging with her voice. I say that about her, even though as far I could tell, only Ellington, Jerins, and Cooper were American in this cast, and I have no idea what would pass for a believable Manhattan accent.

Ellington turns in a fine comic turn as the impish sidekick. Some critics disagree with me, but I have a feeling that they don’t like the movie or the way his character was written, and dismiss him because of a lack of name recognition. Jerins is similarly delightful, playing her age authentically, without mugging or awkwardness.

Although the meat of the story itself is pleasant, if unmemorable, it’s the beginning—and especially the end—to which I took strong exception. I’m going to “spoil” part of the ending for you—not because I which to ruin anybody’s enjoyment of the film, but enhance it so that you might not be as angry or blind-sided as I was coming out of this film. As you might come to suspect—and dread—after seeing many unnecessary cultural landmarks setting this film almost a decade ago, Remember Me does in fact use the events of September 11th as an emotionally manipulative plot twist.

There might be an argument to be made about seeing each victim of the attacks in a unique manner by exploring a representative—though fictional—life. However, I feel this argument is undermined by the beginning, in which we see Ally’s mother gunned down in the subway in front of her. This serves less to advance the plot than to exploit the audience’s emotions. These scenes, I feel, are a shameful blight on an otherwise okay—even enjoyable—film. I lay the blame mostly on writer Will Fetters, and director Allen Coulter, although the ending was filmed as—under the circumstances—tastefully as possible.

Remember Me is rated PG-13 for violence, language, sexual content, and smoking.