ForgettableBy John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time," "Cinema Classics," and "On the Marquee"
"Gandhi said that whatever you do in life will be insignificant. But it's very important that you do it. I tend to agree with the first part." Tyler (Rob Pattinson)
Remember Me is an insignificant dramatic romance that begins with a mother's murder and ends, well, with a serious catastrophe so cheesy as to merit a spoiler alert. In between are variations on the losses that go beyond suicide to the loss of a loving compass between fathers and children.
Tyler Hawkins (Rob Pattinson) is a rebel without a cause, in the story line and the way he plays a contemporary James Dean with his soulful eyes, mumbling, and generally aimless discontent. His dad, Charles (Pierce Brosnan) is responsible in part because of his distance from the family due to the demands of his high-powered job and an overarching self-centeredness.
Ally Craig (Emilie de Ravin) brings love into Tyler's life, but like everything in this tumultuous city, she also brings drama at times violent, at others loving. No relationship in this film is without its temporary challenges, in a way like a soap opera but taking itself too seriously. The close-ups of Pattinson brooding are tedious after a while; his antiestablishment attitude remains unanalyzed with the exception of his brother's suicide and father's distance.
Come to think of it, you don't need much more than that for a screwed-up life that merits much more examination than a second-rate James Dean imitation.
John DeSando teaches film at Franklin University and co-hosts WCBE 90.5's It's Movie Time, Cinema Classics, and On the Marquee, which can be heard streaming at http://publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/ppr/index.shtml and on demand at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/arts.artsmain Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.RR.com