Remember Me - Movie Review

In this romantic drama current teenage heart throb, Pattinson plays Tyler Hawkins, a sort of modern day James Dean, rebellious and brooding, emotionally crippled by the suicide of his older brother and the indifference of his work-obsessed, filthy rich, Wall Street lawyer father (Pierce Brosnan) who he is obviously terrified of becoming. Tyler is nearly the same age his brother was when he took his life, a milestone that manipulates his emotional state like a marionette on strings.

When Tyler"s not in the dilapidated Lower East Side apartment he shares with his happy-go-lucky, smart-alecky roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington), he can be found with his 11-year-old sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins), whom he obviously looks up to and shares the most intimate connection of their fragmented family. Tyler is an apathetic student at NYU and it is there that he meets Ally (Emilie de Ravin, in the film"s one preposterously contrived moment), an equally wounded young woman still scarred after witnessing the brutal murder of her mother 10 years earlier.

Ally"s father (Chris Cooper) is a working-class Queens detective who has had a run in with Tyler before, a bit of information Tyler chooses to keep to himself. Though Ally is prickly at first and rebuffs Tyler"s advances, she eventually lets her guard down long enough to strike up a tender romance. Both young people come together saddled with the demons of the past and impending tragedies that will affect their union in ways they cannot possibly anticipate.

Remember Me is populated in equal parts with cliched and surprising moments. Most of the romantic bits are pretty boilerplate, but a subplot involving Pattinson's young sister (Ruby Jerins) offers unexpected warmth and pain. But despite its flaws, Remember Me does a nice job of showing how quickly moments can go from important to trivial and back again. And while the aftermath of loss is the movie's primary theme, there are some light moments - provided largely by Tate Ellington as Pattinson's roommate - that offer a few well-needed breathers.

While at times, Robert Pattinson's performance seems to be all eyebrows, cigarettes and tortured hair, he also shows a flair for acting that, to say the least, his work in the Twilight movies doesn't suggest. Pierce Brosnan is also impressive in a rare charm-free turn as Pattinson's unfeeling father.

Lastly, your reaction to (and ability to anticipate) the ending will probably determine how much you appreciate the movie.

Remember Me- For Robert Pattinson fans

Starring – Robert Pattinson, Pierce Brosnan and Emilie de Ravin

Director – Allen Coulter

Rating: 3 out of 5*