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Friday, March 12, 2010
Coincidence never a good basis for love
By Roger Ebert
Universal Press Syndicate
"Remember Me" tells a sweet enough love story, and tries to invest it with profound meaning by linking it to a coincidence. It doesn't work that way.
The film opens on a New York subway platform. A young girl witnesses the senseless murder of her mother. We meet her again as a young woman. She is Ally Craig (Emilie de Ravin, from "Lost"), the daughter of a police sergeant (Chris Cooper). She's in college. Having lost his wife, he is intensely protective of her.
We meet a feckless young man named Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson). He slouches about trying to look like a dissipated Robert Pattinson. Drinks too much, smokes too much, has the official four-day stubble on his face, hair carefully messed up, bad attitude. He lives in a pigpen of an apartment with a roommate named Aidan (Tate Ellington).
Tyler gets drunk one night, is thrown out of a club, gets in a fight, the cops are called, and when it's almost all over, he shoves one of the cops — Sgt. Craig, of course. Young drunks: It is extremely unwise to shove the cop who is about to let you off with a warning. Tyler is thrown in the slammer. Not long after in school, the snaky Aidan tells Tyler that their pretty classmate Ally is the daughter of that very cop. He dares Tyler to ask her out and then dump her in revenge.
Aidan is a jerk, but logically Tyler is too, because this is morally reprehensible. However, to the surprise of no one in the audience, Tyler falls for Ally and neglects to break up with her.
There's an intriguing subplot. Tyler's parents are divorced. His father is the immensely wealthy Charles Hawkins (Pierce Brosnan), whose office looks larger than small airplane terminals. His mother, Diane (Lena Olin), has remarried. Tyler's beloved kid sister, Caroline (Ruby Jerins), lives with her. Only with Caroline can Tyler relax and drop the sullen facade, showing warmth and love. Until he meets Ally — and then there are two safe harbors, and his rebirth begins.
Pierce Brosnan plays a key role in the process. He has only a few significant scenes in the movie, but plays them so well that he convincingly takes a three-step character development and makes it into an emotional evolution.
"Remember Me"
RATED: PG-13 (for violence, sexual content, language and smoking)
WHEN: Opens today
WHERE: Century 14 Downtown, Century Rio 24, Cottonwood, Four Hills
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