Review of Remember Me (2010) by Chads. — 14 Mar 2010

"Remember Me" is not a Rudy Giuliani biopic; it's Robert Pattinson's maiden foray into acting. As Edward Cullen, Bella's fella, all Pattinson had to do was hit his marks and throw smoldering glances Kristen Stewart's way.

There's not a whole lot of heavy lifting involved if you're playing the undead. Can Pattinson look alive? As the star of this modestly engaging indie ensemble drama, the London-born actor, portraying a lost boy named Tyler, accomodates the moviegoer with enough proof that he has a pulse.

Pattinson is convincing as a warm-blooded mammal, and he plays well with others, but still, the glittering bloodsucker of Cullen lore can't quite escape the twilight. Remember he, Rod Serling, the man who begat M.

Night Shyamalan. A sense of irony that would pull the rug from under the television viewer's feet was what typified a good "Twilight Zone" ending, a payoff that prevailed upon you and the protagonist a simultaneous epiphany.

For instance, in one episode, a man who thought he had made it to heaven, actually was in hell. Irony, however, doesn't belong here; irony rears its ugly head in "Remember Me", spoiling an otherwise highly watchable romantic melodrama.

(***SPOILER ALERT***) Late in the film, after Tyler seems poised for a reconciliation with his difficult father(Pierce Brosnan), the camera pulls back dramatically while he stares out a skyscraper window.

His locality is the Serling-esque twist, which recalls the groundbreaking anthology series(that aired on CBS before the much-missed buildings were even a twinkle in the architect's eye), because this moment of reckoning sucker-punches the moviegoer.

It's not a new beginning for Tyler; it's the end. A tragedy of such monolithic proportions is the wrong time for the filmmaker to show off his cleverness. It's not too soon; it's just tacky.