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I am positive you have heard the cliché, never judge a book by its cover. That same mentality should be considered before watching this film. Remember me is a romantic drama that is focused on Tyler Hawkins played by Robert Pattinson and Ally Craig (Emilie de Ravin). Most people will recognize Robert Pattinson from the Twilight series. Moreover, he has matured triple fold for this film. His acting skills and his ability to carry a movie makes you think that this guy will stick around in Hollywood for years. I have never seen the Twilight series. But if this is his quality in the series, it should be awesome.

Remember me starts out with Ally Craig and her mom at a train station, certainly after midnight-very late. As the train arrives, mom and daughter are pounced upon by two hoodlums who rob the mother of her possessions and shoots her, killing her with the daughter as the only witness. Flash forward ten years to the year 2001 Tyler (Pattinson) is seen attending the anniversary of the death of his older brother. In that moment, we get a glimpse of his separated family. His parents are divorced. However, Tyler plays a critical role in his sister’s life; he seems over protective and supportive of her. Tyler’s sister is played by Caroline Hawkins (Ruby Jerins). The divorced father Charles Hawkins is played by Pierce Brosnan who is amazing is the film. He is a lawyer, a divorced father who is going through a lot emotionally on his own.

One night, in New York City Tyler is out with his roommate Aiden Hall (Tate Ellington) and two other girls. As they walk home, Tyler sees a fight about to go down and decides to intervene. After the altercation, the cops arrive and lock up the perpetrators. After a confrontation with the police Tyler and his friend are placed in jail for a night. They are rescued by Charles Hawkins (Tyler’s father), who is a high profile lawyer in New York.

The movie is filled with tragedies. For a good while, these events set the tone for the film and place everything in perspective for the viewer. Tyler’s friend Aiden plays a comical young man who takes everything simple. On campus one day, he noticed that the same cop that locked them up that night is dropping off his daughter at school. He creates a plan to get back at the cop which sees Tyler dating Ally Craig. Initially the plan is childish and should only have Tyler playing with Ally’s heart knowing how charming he is with the ladies. As expected both fall in love to the amazement of Aiden.

The movie overall progresses slowly. Apart from Tyler (Pattinson) the break out star in this film has to be Caroline Hawkins (Ruby Jerins). This little girl is ready to take over from all the child stars in Hollywood. She is the other force behind this movie. She makes it a whole lot interesting with the role she plays. She is the talented little girl who is teased at school and has no one to defend her. But at the same time, this nagging does not get to her as she’s an academic star and an outstanding painter. Her brother Tyler is the real hero, that big brother you always wanted. He is the one who walks her from school and listens to her deepest concerns. Her role is very mature though; she is not the typical 11 year old. That seemed very deliberate in the film. While many would think because of Robert Pattinson’s involvement it would have had the teen appeal of a romance movie. Remember me is far from that. It is very mature in its approach and I think people will take Pattinson more serious after this film.

I have two favourite scenes from this movie. One is with Charles and Tyler (father and son). It is the day when Caroline has her paintings on display and it should have been a family moment. Somehow Charles did not make it. Really sad! Tyler (Pattinson) gets really upset, rips a painting off the wall and marches into Charles Hawkins office and rips him apart, arguing and asking why he missed his daughter’s show. The scene is very emotional and shows Charles (Brosnan) in an emotional but stern tone. I think this was the best scene in the movie. If you watched Precious and remember the scene where Monique is downstairs and she’s shouting at Precious at the top of the stairs; remember the emotions and tension there; that is the moment between the two.

The other poignant scene for me comes closer to the end of the movie. After Charles and Tyler had scheduled a meeting; Tyler is early, but Charles is running late. Tyler decides to sit in his father’s chair and on the screen he sees photos of his family in a slideshow. It was a telling scene because throughout the movie this man showed no emotion or care towards his family. But behind the veil he really cared a lot but was just going through too much at the time. It makes you wonder if he is afraid to show his real emotions or does he know how. It brought Tyler to the place where he is pondering on the real Charles Hawkins – his dad. Because all along in the movie he wanted his father to show his family how much he cares. The film’s title is fitting and shares a memorable story.

The ending for this film is out of this world. It is so random and unexpected. Of course you expect the ending to be related to the movie even if it makes you disappointed. However, this movie’s ending has nothing to do with anything that came before it. I won’t pre-empt the end just to say, you will be shocked. Not the shock to have you disgusted but the shock that will have you thinking even more. This is a story that should be shared. It makes sense to bring someone to watch it with – don’t forget the title is Remember Me.

Remember me was directed by Allen Coulter and is rated PG 13. The movie has violence, sexual content and adult language and a lot of smoking. I hope this review did not ignore Tyler and Ally’s romance in the film. Both of them have an on screen chemistry in the movie. There are two love scenes between the two which are heated. I think the last one could have been excluded from the film. I did not see the fit where it was. The cinematography in general was good. Final grade 4 out of 5 stars.