Remember Me

Barely segueing from his vampire role in the Twilight franchise, Robert Pattinson here plays moody Tyler Hawkins, who is still haunted in the summer of 2001 by the suicide of his idolized older brother, a tragedy that split his wealthy Park Avenue family. While Tyler has reached an understanding with his remarried mother (Lena Olin) and adores his 11-year-old sister (Ruby Jerins), he's still at odds with his frosty, Wall Street lawyer father (Pierce Brosnan). In fact, 21-year-old Tyler's only friend seems to be his obnoxious roommate, Aidan (Tate Ellington). After a night of carousing culminates in a misunderstanding in a back street in Greenwich Village, Tyler is roughed up, cuffed, and put in a holding cell overnight by NYPD Sgt. Neil Craig (Chris Cooper). Later, Aidan spots Sgt. Craig dropping off his daughter, Ally (Emilie de Ravin), at NYU and talks Tyler into dating her out of revenge. Ally lives in working-class Queens with her widower father; neither has recovered from her mother's brutal murder on a subway platform, which Ally witnessed years earlier. Love happens, of course, but it's not easy for the two grief-laden young adults, leading to a maudlin, melodramatic conclusion in the Twin Towers on September 11. Director Allen Coulter's Remember Me evokes memories of Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955), perhaps envisioning Pattinson as this generation's James Dean, but while it may appeal to the newcomer's teen fan base, the film itself falls considerably short of that earlier classic. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (the first with director Allen Coulter; the second with producer Nicholas Osborne and costars Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, and Ruby Jerins), a “making-of” featurette (15 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven film.] (S. Granger)