Robert Pattinson, the moody poster boy for a cow-eyed generation of weeping teenaged girls and boys—thanks to the Twilight teenage vampire franchise—plays another gloomy Gus in another story of emotionally damaged lovers, albeit this time without the fangs. In Remember Me, Pattinson—playing Tyler Hawkins, the son of wealth and privilege in a family split by the death of his older brother—is matched up with Emilie de Ravin of TV's Lost as Ally Craig, the blue-collar daughter of a cop ( Chris Cooper ) . To add more drama to the mix, Ally's mother was gunned down in front of her as a child.
Director Allen Coulter follows up his masterful 2006 film noir Hollywoodland with this much less original movie from a first-time script by Will Fetters. The picture, a last-reel weeper that is heavy on early '20s romantic angst thanks to those familial tragedies ( with more to come ) and two lovers with major cases of daddy issues, rests heavily on the shoulders of its young comely stars, in true Hollywood romantic tradition.
In the summer and fall of 2001 in Manhattan we encounter Tyler, a college student dealing with the brother's death and an ongoing dysfunctional relationship with Pierce Brosnan as his distant, disapproving father. Neither mother Diane ( Lena Olin ) or little sister Caroline ( Ruby Jerins ) seem able to perk him up. Even Tyler's annoying roommate, Aidan ( Tate Ellington, stuck in the thankless wisecracking, best-friend role ) isn't able to get a rise out of Tyler until finally he blurts out, "I've had enough of this brooding introvert shit."
But Tyler's sullen act pretty much endures throughout the movie, only finding respite here and there in the budding relationship with Ally. And those aforementioned daddy issues of the young lovers—hers because dad is too protective, his because dad only seems to care about money and position—keep getting in the way. A subplot with Caroline being set upon by her vicious schoolmates because she's too "artistic" and socially inept ( read: weird and/or gay ) acts as the catalyst for changes across the board.
I liked the acting chances that Pattinson took in the unfairly maligned gay romance Little Ashes, but here he reverts to form and much of his performance is once again about his sexy scruffiness. ( You can almost smell his funk coming off the screen. ) And, yes, his hair is also a big part of the movie—mainly because he seems to begin every scene by looking down until someone speaks to him so we see that forest on the top of his head before his face.
Fetters' script has bits of Love Story, Ordinary People, John Hughes' '80s teen dramas and scores of other mismatched lovebird movies thrown in for good measure. The emotional "high point" of Remember Me uses the 9/11 tragedy to keep the dramatic angst alive just as the problems of the characters seem headed for resolve. Although some will find this climax heartbreaking and stirring in its attempt to produce a fresh round of tears, I found this last-dash attempt so calculated and ham-handed it made me want to take a shower. It makes perfect sense after viewing Remember Me to learn that Fetters has been hired to write a script for a fourth screen remake of—get ready—A Star Is Born ( to star Beyoncé and Russell Crowe! ) . Oh, my heart overflows with anticipation.
Red Riding is a trilogy of three feature-length films—1974, 1980, 1983—by three different directors that was broadcast on British television and is now getting a theatrical release stateside ( before the inevitable Hollywood remake ) . The three films—set in Yorkshire, England—focus on Eddie Dunford ( Andrew Garfield ) a young, cocky crime reporter who investigates the brutal rape and murder of several little girls and quickly discovers unlinked connections to a local bigshot and the police. When a fellow reporter is killed, everything deepens. One of the murdered reporter's sources, gay homeless hustler BJ ( Robert Sheehan ) , will prove to be the connecting thread between all three films, which also incorporate the real-life Yorkshire Ripper serial killings.
As the complicated scripts by Tony Grisoni ( based on the best-sellers by David Peace ) veer back and forth between past and present, one can always feel the corruption and conspiracy just beyond the frame ( though one can't always understand the heavily accented dialogue,only the first film has subtitles ) . The three movies—directed by Julian Jarrold, James Marsh and Anand Tucker—are stuffed with a raft of marvelous actors including Sean Bean, Rebecca Hall, Paddy Considine and Eddie Marsan, to mention a few. Filmed in the methodical yet gripping style of the Helen Mirren Prime Suspect series, Red Riding is a stylish cornucopia of treats for dedicated Anglophiles and fans of crime procedurals alike. See www.musicboxtheatre.com .
Film notes:
—The always entertainingly programmed Dyke Delicious series returns Saturday, March 13, at Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark, with another mash-up of Bad Girl classics by editor Sharon Zurek. Babes in B-Movies will feature a compilation of scenes from rancid yet fabulous camp flicks like Invasion of the Bee Girls, Girls on the Loose, Cat Women on the Moon and others—all edited with the lesbian undertone brought front and center. The evening begins with socializing and a chance to make your own 3-D glasses ( ! ) at 7 p.m. followed by the 8 p.m. screening. Visit www.chicagofilmmakers.org .
—My favorite film so far this year is having its Chicago premiere this week at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State, as part of its monthlong 13th Annual European Union Film Festival. Director Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love is a gorgeous Italian romantic drama ( subtitled ) that recalls late Visconti and the '50s melodramas of Douglas Sirk. Tilda Swinton stars as the privileged Russian-born matriarch of a wealthy Milanese family who finds herself involved in an affair with her son's best friend just as she discovers that her daughter is a lesbian. The sumptuously appointed film, a visual and sensual tour de force, screens March 14-15. This is an early opportunity to see this stately, deeply engrossing film in advance of its scheduled summer opening. Visit www.siskelfilmcenter.org .
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site.
