When the film "Remember Me" came out in theaters earlier this year, I assumed it to be a cheesy, dramatic love story about two young people from the opposite sides of life. I had no interest in seeing it - although was intrigued by the fact that Chris Cooper was in it (he usually chooses fantastic projects). I became more intrigued when the reviews started coming in and they all seemed obsessed with the shocking ending. This sort of film doesn't strike me as the sort of film that would shock me (I thought to myself...hmm...let me guess...one of them dies). After reading one of the spoiler alerts - I admit, I was in shock. And no...I can't write about this film without discussing the ending, so warning: SPOILER ALERT. Here are my thoughts...
1. The overview - to be completely honest, the film sucked. I think if I didn't already know the ending, I would have pressed stop on my DVD player 1/2 way through. It was boring and drawn out. I am not a fan of R. Patz and I think Emilie de Ravin is a bit over-rated (she always over-acted as Claire on Lost - especially the last season). In this film, their characters were self-involved and a bit whiny (both share "daddy issues") - and the worst part is that I didn't believe in their love at all.
2. The hints - knowing the end already, I paid extremely close attention to every detail. I think if I didn't know the end - I would probably overlooked the biggest clue right from the beginning. Ally is 10 years old in 1991. The rest of the film takes place when she just turned 21 (do the math). Another obvious hint to the end is probably the music/movies that are seen and heard - Ally listens to an old Ani Difranco album, the father wants to watch Erin Brockovich on DVD - which was released in theaters in 2000 and the biggest hint of all was that American Pie 2 was playing in the theater - released in August 2001. In September 2001, I was 20 years old in college - all of these things reminded me of this time period.
3. The end - So, the end of the film is that Tyler - having just reconnected with his corporate business mogul father -ends up in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. It is a haunting image as he looks out the window, while the camera pans out to reveal that he is in this iconic building. I have to admit that the music leading up to the end caused me to have severe anxiety because I knew that I was about to be emotionally ambushed. I know that I would have felt even more ambushed, almost assaulted, if I didn't know how it was going to end. The biggest flaw that I find with the end is that the rest of the film sucks so much that it just simply doesn't deserve such a big ending. To use 9/11 as a creative tool - I feel like you must earn if first (like Fringe for example). This is probably the first time in history that I am not kicking myself for reading a spoiler.
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