Remember Me (2010)
Review of Remember Me (2010), directed by Allen Coulter
I originally watched this movie years ago, back when I didn’t understand the significance of the themes it was portraying, nor the historical events that it showed. I think I originally watched the movie when the Twilight craze was still going on, because I remember I was watching it for Robert Pattinson.
Now, after watching The Social Network years later, I stumbled across this movie again. Ironically, it was also after binge watching all of the Twilight movies, but now I’m a little less crazed about those movies. It’s amazing to go back to films like this from a much-later standpoint, since it’s amazing to see how Pattinson has grown as an actor. Remember Me is a good film, one with a lot of depth, and is just the beginning of his career.
Let’s dig deeper into Remember Me.
Content
Our main characters in this movie are Ally, whose mother was shot at a New York City subway stop when she was a girl, and Tyler, a boy who seems unambitious, works at The Strand, and has a short fuse when it comes to certain things. They’ve become intertwined and that exposes a lot of their past traumas, as well as the ones that they’re currently trapped in.
This movie had the potential to be good. The setup of their backstories is done decently, the characters are ones that are quite relatable and likable. They’re flawed humans just trying to make it in the world. Even the younger sister of Tyler, who’s a talented artist who’s the youngest to be invited into Steinhardt’s art program, is bullied at school and neglected by their father, who likes to pretend she doesn’t exist.
Tyler is also very much a stereotype. Sad boy who smokes a lot of cigarettes, is quote-on-quote unambitious by the societal standards, reads a lot of philosophy, and works at a book store. Pattinson brings him to life though, plays the part perfectly. Emilie de Ravin also does a spectacular job as Ally; I’ve only seen her in Once Upon a Time as Belle, and so this is the first film I’ve seen by her. It does the part.
It’s a very melodramatic film, and a lot of criticism tends to be about its ending. I don’t want to get deeper into it for the sake of spoilers, but I think the ending wasn’t necessary. I feel like a lot of historical films (historical in the sense that they’re depicting a past that’s slipping farther away from us) set in New York City in the early 2000s feel like they have to address 9/11. And this is one of the films. It doesn’t feel very necessary to the story; instead it feels very dramatic and just added on to make it a bit more sad.
I wish this film was more. It’s got the perfect setting: New York City in the early 2000s. We’ve got a bunch of traumatized characters taking their pain and anger out on other people, as well as learning how to love at the end of the day. I think this film had a lot of potential, but it doesn’t really branch outside its comfort zone and relies of the dramatics to make a statement.
Overall Thoughts
It’s an okay film. Don’t pay for it, watch it for free on Netflix or some other steaming site. I don’t think it’s worth paying for, since it’s not exactly the greatest film around. We get some nice shots of NYC and the people who inhabit it, but the lackluster storyline doesn’t make up for it. A lot of discussions about death and despair, especially considering the characters and their backgrounds. Ironically, I’d watch it again, but just for the shots. And Pattinson. I still love Pattinson, that’s for sure.
