‘Remember Me’ is worth watching…and remembering (IANS Film Review)
Film: ‘Remember Me’; Cast: Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Ruby Jerins; Director: Allen Coulter; Rating:***
Life is not lived in great achievements, but in small moments spent with loved ones that haunt you when they are gone. ‘Remember Me’ is a call to live those moments when they are happening, and to remember and yet move on when they have left.
It’s 2001. Six years ago, Tyler’s (Robert Pattinson) brother had hanged himself. And 10 years back Ally (Emilie de Ravin) witnesses the murder of her mother in a mugging incident. Both of them react differently to their tragedies. Ally wants to live every moment, while Tyler becomes broody, rebellious and hates his dad, who he believes to be the cause for his brother’s suicide.
Tyler’s and Ally’s fathers react differently to their tragedies. The former (Pierce Brosnan) buries himself in his business, while the latter (Chris Cooper) becomes over protective – both strangulating their children in their own way. Charles even neglects his 11-year-old daughter, who has a genius for painting.
When fate brings Tyler and Ally together, they fall in love, and find solace in each other. But will their barely teenage romance, survive the storm of the times?
‘Remember Me’ is a film that is a lot like our memories, unhurried and haunting. The end that comes suddenly is a shocking reminder of lives suddenly left incomplete. It might seem pretentious to some, but could also be looked as probable stories of loss and grief on a fateful day in 2001 that changed the history of the world.
The film urges you to remember those lives, and yet in doing so it tells you to exorcise the past and move on. Perhaps it wants to tell you that the past has to be cherished so one could move away from it and ‘live in the moments’.
Pattinson is his broody self made famous by the ‘Twilight’ series. However, if you intend to see the film expecting another teeny-weeny romance or to have a glimpse of his cute self in a cuter film, you’d be disappointed.
Though it is a story of romance between two people barely out of their teens, it is way too serious for the understanding of kids. It is a mature, contemplative film that demands a kind of patience that comes only with age and loss.
Both Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper excel in their well played out roles while Emilie makes the big jump from television into silver screen. But it is director Allen Coulter, another import from television, and first time writer Will Fetters, who with their timing, shine through the film despite a few jarring cinematic moments.
‘Remember Me’ is about the grief of loss and coming to terms with it. But make no mistakes, it is a film easy to dismiss if you are in a hurry. Pay attention, to the film and to your life, or you will miss the most important bits.
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