[pullquote cite=”” type=”left, right”][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=That Film Guy&asin=B003FTABUW][/pullquote] Clearly in an attempt to breakaway from type-casting at the time, Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson executive produced a small independent romantic drama called Remember Me. Set in New York, Pattinson is Tyler Hawkins a troubled silver spoon fed baby with daddy issues, resulting from a fractured relationship with his big shot father Charles (Pierce Brosnan). After a run-in with a police officer (Chris Cooper) he embarks on a revenge plan that would see him seduce the police officers daughter Ally (Emilie de Ravin) and then break her heart. However serendipity strikes and he falls for the girl, herself equally damaged following the death of her mother at a young age and the resultant over-protective father.
Pattinson carefully creates a troubled young character to establish differences between this and his more famous vampiric role. Here he is a fully-formed character, with reasoning beyond simple lore that explains why he behaves the way he does. The most enticing element of the drama then relies upon the relationship between him and de Ravin’s Ally. Demonstrating levels of chemistry that eclipse his more staid performances with Stewart in the mega-franchise, this more realistic and quiet romance is steeped in beauty and subtle quirks and remains thoroughly engrossing throughout.
Supporting the two leads are Brosnan and Cooper. Each bring gravitas and class to proceedings and keep Remember Me on the right side of drama, never allowing it to slip into unnecessary melodrama.
Then however, it almost all falls apart. Having worked so hard to create compelling characters in an interesting situation, the finale shoe-horns in an element of fate, which threatens to bring the whole thing down. The film shows a distinct lack of faith in its own characters and we are treated to an over-the-top inclusion of something terrible. A revelation that suggests that it was all bound to go wrong, regardless of the decisions made. This lack of tact is a crushing disappointment and while the events may be factually accurate, they are wholly unnecessary within the context of the narrative, used solely to invoke some deeper level of drama which sits at odds with the pseudo-realism created.
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