Remember Me: movie review

Teen idol Robert Pattinson stars in ‘Remember Me’ as a wealthy New York student trying to find himself.

Robert Pattinson, left, Emilie de Ravin,center, and Pierce Brosnan are shown in a scene from 'Remember Me.'

Myles Aronowitz/Summit Entertainment/AP

March 12, 2010

If he’s not playing a vampire, will Robert Pattinson’s fanatic followers be equally gaga for him? This is the momentous question posed by “Remember Me,” where he plays Tyler, a rebellious New York University student and rich scion deliberately living the low-rent lifestyle.

The short answer to this question is, I believe, “Indubitably.” As teen, or tween idols go, Pattinson is unusual in that he is actually a good actor; it would be a pity if he was embraced only for his jaw line and bloodsucking acumen and not for the dramatic skills that are intermittently on view here.

Overwritten and overcooked, “Remember Me” still manages a few explosive sequences between Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan, playing his CEO father. (Brosnan’s Brooklyn accent is a sometime thing.) But Pattinson is best in this movie when he’s not shouting and throwing things, as in some lovely quiet moments between Tyler and his precocious 11-year-old sister (Ruby Jerins) – there’s a J.D. Salinger quality to these scenes – and also in the intimate sequences with his star-crossed girlfriend (Emilie de Ravin).

Still and all, “Remember Me” is not altogether worth remembering. Grade: B- (Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language, and smoking.)

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