Sad boy meets sad girl. Said sad boy and sad girl inevitably fall in love. Whilst it would be easy to summarise Remember Me as such, it would be crude to reduce R Patz’ latest venture to such terms. Remember Me is a dark, brooding, and occasionally heart-wrenching affair (yes, really), but unfortunately this new Robert Pattinson film fails to reach its potential.

Remember Me Robert

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As mentioned above, the plot of this film doesn’t really break any new ground. Pattinson, who also did some behind-the-camera work on Remember Me,  plays Tyler, a moody and contemplative New York student struggling to erase the memory of his brother’s suicide. Egged on by his irritatingly Jack-the-Lad roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington), Tyler engages Ally (Emilie de Ravin), a fellow student who just so happens to have witnessed the murder of her mother. As a six-year-old. Oh, and Tyler only introduces himself to Ally in order to get back at her father Neil (Craig Cooper), an NYPD detective who inflicted a good ol’ fashioned dose of police brutality upon Tyler. Jeez.

In addition to the mutual family death factor, it turns out that the unfeasibly good-looking pair also have father issues. Tyler struggles to bond with his father Charles (Pierce Brosnan), a bourgeois city lawyer who appears to prioritise work and capital gain over his family. Similarly, Ally fails to get to grips with her overprotective and overbearing father, and flees her home to live with Tyler in his grotty student apartment after her dad lashes out at her.

Romeo and Juliet for the Twilight age?

Ally and Tyler’s burgeoning relationship seems to underline the sentiment that “love heals”, as the pair seek closure of their respective grievances. Whilst their on-screen relationship is touching and genuine, the film plods along at a sloth-like pace and seems bereft of any strong narrative. The parental reconciliation that occurs towards the end of the film is all too predictable and Tyler’s family are prone to some unreasonably OTT moments; for example their overreaction to his sister Caroline’s impromptu hair-cutting verges upon ludicrous.

The film has also garnered some negative press for the shock ending, which is lifted from a great American tragedy. Credit must be given to the film’s makers for not revealing this in their promotional campaign, although some have criticised the so-called exploitation of this national tragedy (you’ll have to watch it to find out what it is!).

Is Edward Cullen Tyler in disguise?

Understandably, much of the critical attention aimed at this film has centred upon the performance of Robert Pattinson. R Patz (who coins these names?!?) mopes around the film, chain-smoking, frowning and ruffling his hair. Occasionally his melancholic demeanour is punctuated by moments of “fun-Tyler” (see the bit where the predictably clichéd washing-up courtship scene astonishingly leads to frolics in the bath). There are certainly similarities between Tyler and that of Twilight‘s Edward Cullen, provoking genuine fears that Pattinson is already being typecast for the role of the moody, angsty, absent protagonist.

Kudos must be given to the movie’s production team for the exemplary cinematography and scoring; the clever use of both adds more to the mood of the film than Pattinson’s one-dimensional performance. Ultimately the film’s lack of a good plot detracts from it’s watch-ability. Whilst Twi-hards everywhere will no doubt proclaim Remember Me as “da best film eva OMGz!”, those post-puberty will struggle to do the same. We certainly won’t be remembering this one in a hurry.

Does Remember Me manage to live up to the hype or should Robert stick to his vampire duties? Let us know below…