Rating: 8/10

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Pierce Brosnan, Lena Olin, Chris Cooper

Director: Allen Coulter

Ladies, catch your breath – in between his time sparkling as a vampire, R Patz returns to the screen in this romantic drama.

He’s Tyler, a rebellious student in New York in 2001, who’s got a strained relationship with his lawyer dad (an aloof and emotionally hard Pierce Brosnan) ever since his brother committed suicide.

Tyler is a bit of a closed book drifter, a one night stands kind of guy who won’t emotionally open up – but that all changes when a twist of fate brings him to Ally (Lost’s Emilie de Ravin).Ally too is emotionally damaged – having seen her mom murdered on the subway when she was 11, she isn’t initially too keen to let Tyler into her life.

But the pair’s paths are intertwined and fate has a way of playing these things out.

Both Pattinson and de Ravin are perfectly cast in Remember Me, an aching, yearning film about love – there’s broodiness aplenty and inevitable family dramas and a sprinkling of The Taming of The Shrew – but what Remember Me does have is a way of subverting your expectations.

Sure it’s a clichéd relationship – Ally’s dad, a cop (the ever wonderful Chris Cooper) isn’t impressed and Tyler’s dad is emotionally stunted from the rest of the family – but it’s the central performances from de Ravin and Pattinson which give this film flight and takes it away from your usual brooding young love and aching hearts kind of film.

Granted there are familiar familial patterns playing out here – the family drama on all sides is nothing new and there’s more than a few predictable moments as the end approaches.

Some will argue Pattinson’s just putting in another brooding performance a la Edward Cullen (ie slightly aloof) but that’s unfair to RPatz – whose restrained screen presence gradually unpeels and reveals several layers. It’s clear he’s destined for a shelf life beyond the ole vamp, and thanks to de Ravin’s emotionally rich performance, the pair sizzle on screen.

But it’s the rich ending of Remember Me which emotionally shocks you by knocking the wind out of your cinematic sails – it’s unexpected, powerful and may well leave you agog. (But you won’t find me discussing it here).

Remember Me is an intriguing relationship drama which will have RPatz’s fans both drooling and more in love with him than ever before – but its ending will polarise the audience; however sometimes, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Source: TVNZ