Is Robert Pattinson a Movie Star or Just a Teen Idol?
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland remains queen of the box office, but Robert Pattinson's romantic drama, Remember Me, raked in an underwhelming $3,300,000 on 2,215 screens during its second weekend -- for a paltry total of $13,900,000. Even more shocking is that it came in at number 10 under the practically unheard of Our Family Wedding, which begs the question -- why is one of the hottest male stars raking in forgettable box office numbers? (Kat: Just wondering if they can name a movie of this genre that has done better?)
Granted, $13.9 million isn't the end of the world since Emilie de Ravin's tale about a rebellious young man who meets the love of his life after a family tragedy only had a budget of $16 million -- but it certainly suggests that Robert Pattinson isn't the draw for fans, but the character Edward Cullen is. People fell in love with Cullen while reading Stephanie Meyer's books and then became enamored with Pattinson through the films. Finally, legions of fangirls had their immortal boyfriend personified on screen and the spell seems near impossible to break. Pattinson's young female fan base doesn't really want to see him falling in love with anyone other than Bella and his character Tyler in Remember Me wasn't the hopeless romantic clamoring for his lady love -- in fact, previews for the film looked seriously depressing and far too dreary for the teen crowd that has come to adore him. (Kat: Did they see it or are they basing this only on reviews?)
So, can Robert Pattinson have a successful career after the Twilight series ends? What's the best way for him to transition from Edward to another character? Does he need to choose a completely different role or will that cause his fan base to abandon him entirely? Or is he destined to become this generation's Mark Hamill -- for example, so linked to a single character that no one wants to risk casting him in anything besides movies featuring glittery vampires? (Kat: Only time will tell - but I think a few may be surprised)
There are SO many reviews coming in, we want to post the good, the bad and the ugly... and probably the best way to do it is this - I'm going to post the links out to all of them. Some have spoilers, some don't. I'd say if you want to stay spoiler free.... take caution and click through to these links AFTER you've seen the movie.
Here's a nice excuse to post some lovely Remember Me stills too...
WHILE it's too early to say whether Robert Pattinson has the acting talent to go beyond playing a hot vampire in the Twilight series, Remember Me suggests his prospects are slim.
Pattinson isn't the first teen idol to fancy himself as the second coming of James Dean, but his performance as rebellious rich kid Tyler Hawkins is a ponderous catalogue of Method mannerisms: he spends the whole movie pouting and letting his head roll forward as he fumbles for a cigarette.
Though Remember Me is basically a love story, like many recent American films it's also about grief. Tyler has been at odds with his family ever since his brother's suicide, while his new girlfriend Ally (Emilie de Ravin) has never recovered from the fateful day when her mother was gunned down in the subway.
The contrivances don't stop there: director Allen Coulter can do little to redeem the inane script by newcomer Will Fetters, which strives to be whimsical, edgy and profound.
This is the kind of drama where the hero quotes Gandhi and the kooky heroine orders dessert first because she believes in seizing the day.
Much of the dialogue is so awful it's hard to see why anyone thought the film a good idea - unless it was for the sake of the ending, which will either blow your mind or leave you paralysed with embarrassment.
"Remember Me" Movie Review! How Many Kisses Does Robert Pattinson Get?
Confession Time – I was never a fan of Robert Pattinson. I am basing that assessment on the actor’s most famous role to date, the lovelorn vampire Edward in the “Twilight” films. I thought he delivered wooden performances in both movies.
But after watching Pattinson in the new film “Remember Me,” I can now honestly say, I’m intrigued by this actor. He carried the movie from its shaky start to its heart wrenching conclusion.
Unlike his “Twilight” co-star, Taylor Lautner, Pattinson is making brave career choices. While Lautner will soon be busy working on standard thrillers like “Abduction” or sure-fire blockbusters like “Stretch Armstrong,” Pattinson will bury himself in art-house films like “Bel Ami” and “”Water for Elephants.”
Taking a cue from Johnny Depp, Pattinson peppers his resume with iconic roles such as Edward, and memorable characters like the one he played in “Remember Me.” He stars as Tyler, a rebel with a cause who has serious daddy issues.
His father, Charles Hawkins (played perfectly by Pierce Brosnan), is a rich, powerful businessman who spends most of his time in the office and less with his family. After a tragedy separated the Hawkins, Tyler and his sister Caroline (the amazing Ruby Jerins), divide their time between their dad, and their newly-married mother (the underused Lena Olin).
Edward Cullen may be a world-class brooder, but the actor who portrays him, Robert Pattinson, actually enjoys a good laugh.
Pattinson certainly has much to be happy about these days. His career is red-hot, with the “Twilight” films having made him a multimedia sensation. He hopes his latest picture, “Remember Me,” which opens March 12, continues his career's upwards trajectory. At the very least, it’s allowed him to do something he’s rarely had a chance to do onscreen: Smile.
Drifting far from his Vampire mode in the Twilight films (but not too far), Robert Pattinson proves he doesn’t “suck” in a straight dramatic role and affectingly portrays a tortured young man with family issues who finds love with an equally wounded young woman in a romance underlined by past and impending tragedies. The name of Pattinson above the title will guarantee a large femme turnout for this brooding, PG13 drama, and although it’s no Rebel Without A Cause or Splendor In The Grass for a new generation, it has enough tender and genuine moments of youthful angst and romantic discovery that opening weekend figures should be sweet, word of mouth decent and a healthy afterlife on DVD assured.
Fate sticks its foot out to trip all the characters in all the worst ways in "Remember Me," a grave romantic drama with grandiose thematic intentions. Framed in a portentous manner with a calamitous ending that will only come as a surprise to those who haven't been paying attention, the modestly scaled film delivers some moving and affecting moments amid a preponderance of scenes of frequently annoying people behaving badly. It is precisely the young female fans of star Robert Pattinson who will react most wrenchingly to this doomed romance, which should enjoy a short but sweet B.O. life.
Pattinson is in heavy James Dean mode here as a reckless, unwashed, chain-smoking, intensely confused pretty boy named Tyler who, as Dean did in "East of Eden" and "Rebel Without a Cause," has major father issues. Turning his back, at least for the moment, on his family's wealth -- dad Charles (Pierce Brosnan) is a mighty Wall Street lawyer, while classy mom Diane (Lena Olin) has remarried and is raising precocious 11-year-old artist Caroline (Ruby Jerins) -- Tyler rooms with crude low-life Aidan (Tate Ellington) while occasionally attending NYU classes between drinking bouts.
Bottom Line: A strong romantic drama in which Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin really shine.
"Remember Me" is a smart, engaging drama about young love flourishing amid sadness and loss. The story ends on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York, which, depending on your point of view, further underscores the sense of loss implicit in the movie's title or is an unnecessary dramatic ploy to end the film with a devastating twist of fate that immediately connects with every audience member. But to return to the original point: "Remember Me" is a smart, engaging drama about a romance.
With the "Twilight" franchise's Robert Pattinson topping a fine cast -- the actor executive produces as well -- "Remember Me" should attract strong opening-weekend audiences. However, it will find its legs with women young and old who will spark to a romance without the off-color humor and male boorishness that so often accompanies romantic fare these days. Summit Entertainment can expect above-average boxoffice.
In an opening sequence 10 years earlier, a subway mugging turns violent as the World Trade Center's Twin Towers loom ominously in the distance, a dramatic foreshadowing that fortunately does not continue into the rest of the movie. But it does establish the suddenness of tragedy, especially as it affects two families at the center of the film.
Allen Coulter, directing a script by Will Fetters, then proceeds to unfold a story about two young people who share little in common except an inexplicable tragedy in each of their lives from which neither family has fully recovered.
Tyler (Pattinson) comes from Park Avenue comfort, but his brother's suicide has pulled a rug from underneath him. He is a lost soul, and it's not clear he is going to snap out of his funk anytime soon. His divorced father (Pierce Brosnan) has grown tired of his melancholy and disaffection, but his mother (Lena Olin) still has faith in him.
Tyler has two entirely different sources of succor: his kid sister (Ruby Jerins), whom he adores, and his roommate, Aidan (Tate Ellington), who has enough wild-man spirit to get Tyler out of his routine and into a few parties and bars. By the way, Tyler has a way with women.
Ally (Emilie de Ravin) is from a blue-collar family in Queens. Her father (Chris Cooper), a cop, clearly has not recovered from the murder of his wife. On the surface, Ally is less damaged, but one suspects she simply hides her pain better.
The cop and Tyler have a late-night encounter where Tyler's righteousness comes up violently against the cop's hardened weariness. Then, in the movie's one quasi-contrivance, Aidan discovers that the cop's attractive daughter shares a class with Tyler. He persuades his roomie into romancing then dumping the woman as a way to get back at her father.
Predictably, the first part works but not the second, where he is supposed to dump Ally. Instead, the two fall in love.
The movie doesn't make a big point out of the grief that overshadows their lives. It's implicit in their actions and manner. They bond in many ways, not the least of which are over fathers at a loss to meet their kids' emotional needs.
The scenes between Pattinson and de Ravin exude genuine charm. One wants these two to get together. They are likable without being saccharine.
The fathers are harder to read. In a decade, neither seems to have developed a coping mechanism, and Tyler's father's indifference toward his daughter is inexplicable.
Fate, in the form of 9/11, casts all of these character flaws and shortcomings into bold relief. This is, after all, a film of memory and loss. One imagines that any of these characters might be narrating the story years later as they seek to remember those final moments before their world so utterly changed.
The production is clean and polished, with Marcelo Zarvos' understated though persistent score and Jonathan Freeman's meticulous cinematography bringing notable sparkle to this heartfelt drama.
Cute article... but a couple of spoilers in there - read with care!
5 Reasons Remember Me's Tyler Hawkins Might Be As Lovable as Twilight's Edward Cullen
From the first time my eyes saw the words "Edward Cullen" in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight book, it was love at first read. Every line out of his mouth made my heart melt just a little bit more. (It went as far as me forcing my mom to read the books so she could get to know her "future son-in-law" -- seriously!)
And when Rob Pattinson was cast to play him in the The Twilight Saga films, my obsession for Team Edward spiked to a whole new level. His brooding looks, those little smiles cracking from the corners of his lips, and the beyond romantic ways he did anything and everything.
So when I first saw the trailers for Rob's new film, Remember Me (opening March 12), I was fully aware this was no Edward Cullen. And in all honesty, nothing about the preview made me want to see the film. Sure, I'm a sucker for a coming-of-age tale packed with romance, but he just seemed so unrelatable.
And then I found out the ending. I won't spoil it for you guys, but accidentally finding out how it concluded made me need to see the film... right away. And luckily enough, last Monday after covering the red carpet premiere of the film and chatting with all the cast and crew about it, I was able to see it right away. And W-O-W.
Let's just say, this is one affective film that will stick with you for the rest of your life. But a big part of it is the way that Rob plays the very-human character of Tyler Hawkins.
So I'm officially launching Team Tyler right now... starting with my Top 5 reasons you might just fall in love with Tyler as much as Edward (I won't go as far as saying more than Tyler...yet...)
1- The lamely adorable way he picks up girls -- just wait until you see him work the charm with Ally (Emilie de Ravin).
2- The too-cute way he says, "Abso-freakin'-lutely!" to his little sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins) when she asks if he'll go to her art show.
3- His heart-wrenching relationship with his deceased older brother... so close that the moment he falls in love, he rushes off to write to him about her at their favorite diner.
4- His determination -- he does everything he can to win Ally a gigantic bear at the carnival... and ends up paying for it!
5- The big brother heart that has him carrying a pink sleeping bag, defending her against mean girls, and reading stories about Greek gods to her in bed to make her feel better. Awww!
So get ready to fall in love with another of Rob's characters (I started way back with Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire!) in a whole new way!
If you're wanting to stay spoiler free - please skip this thread (after checking out The Pretty picture of course)
At last - an intelligent romantic drama
You have to give credit to a film which starts powerfully and grabs you by the eyeballs. That's certainly the case here. A dramatic sequence with striking camera angles and lighting makes an instant impression and sets the mood for this gritty romance about two dysfunctional families. Aided by strong acting and an intelligent script, Remember Me is a cut above most romantic films.
Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) a rebel looking for a cause has a difficult relationship with his estranged high flying father (Pierce Brosnan). Street-hardened cop Sgt. Neil Craig’s (Chris Cooper) wife was shot dead by hoodlums in front of his young daughter ten years previously. Craig in recent times has become over protective.
When Tyler and his best mate Aidan (Tate Ellington) get involved in a street brawl they’re arrested by Craig. By coincidence, Craigs’s daughter Ally (Emilie de Ravin) attends the same college as Tyler and he’s encouraged by Aidan to make out with her in order to get back at the rough handling he experienced from her dad. In a sub-plot, Tyler’s young sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins), something of a romantic dreamer, is set upon at a party. Tyler is outraged by this and his father’s apparent indifference to Caroline’s success as a budding artist.
Tyler and Ally actually fall in love but their happiness is short-lived as family pressures and secrets create an untenable situation threatening their relationship. Things are suddenly brought to a head in an unexpected and devastating conclusion; the moral being to make the most of every day.
Director Allen Coulter, whose previous feature was Hollywoodland as well as episodes of The Sopranos, lovingly crafts a picture of New York at in important time in its history. He’s clearly comfortable with his actors and gains excellent performances. Credit must go to Will Fetters’ script with its layers of meaning and convincing dialogue. Cinematography makes use of colour to suit the mood, with impressive camerawork.
At the risk of getting abusive mail, I have to confess I’m not a great fan of Robert Pattinson (Twilight) in his limp vampire outings. He’s on his mettle here, with a touch of the young Marlon Brando and a sense of being real. You should applaud a good performance as this one deserves. His intimate scenes with the curvaceous Emilie de Ravin (Public Enemies) have that elusive electric tingle, their lovemaking captured sympathetically rather than bordering on the pornographic. The shower sequence is a good example. They make one of the screen’s more pleasing romantic couplings.
Chris Cooper (The Kingdom) puts in a sensitive performance with depth as the tough but heartbroken cop. This reliable actor seems to fall into roles that suit him. It’s good to see Pierce Brosnan (Mamma Mia!) in serious mode for a change, doing much to confirm his status as a fine actor. A surprise packet is young Ruby Jerins (Shutter Island) as Caroline, she’s just a charmer and steals her scenes right out from under her co-stars. Tate Ellington (The Invention of Lying) provides a level of comic relief as Tyler's close friend, while Lena Olin (The Reader) emotionally captures his grieving mother who lost her other son to suicide.
Remember Me may remembered after other romantic movies are forgotten for its compelling performances and intriguing script. It certainly surprised this reviewer, as I was expecting much less. Be warned - the shock twist at the end is a gut punch.
Our friend Maria Lindholm from ELLE Sweden went to a pre-screening of Remember Me and wrote a little bit about if for "The Robsessed":
I saw Remember me yesterday, actually with low expectations – neither the trailer nor the pre-released clips had me convinced. But now I´m very happy – Rob definitely CAN act. The cast is strong, as many have said, little Ruby Jerins is very good and Rob/Tyler's best friend Aidan/Tate Ellington have not received enough praise – he is very funny and brings a lot to the film. Tyler is nothing like Twilight's Edward, Tyler is cynical, angry, violent, doesn´t back out of fights (or sex, thank you very much) but still very caring. Everyone who likes Rob Pattinson will LOVE this movie – but I think I can safely say it goes beyond Twilight fandom as a truly lovely little film about family, loss, friendship and the fact that you should love as much as you can when you have it. Love is never insignificant.
Thank you Maria! You can leave her some love on her blog ;)
If Twilight is Robert Pattinson’s ride in first class - the smooth, painless jaunt with slightly-prettier views and largely grime-free surroundings, then Remember Me is the British heartthrob’s excursion in Coach - a slightly cheaper, not quite as cushy and slightly bumpier ride without the views and continuous pop music playing from surrounding speakers.
But as most usually discover when they ride coach, it’s a lot more memorable a trip, and even more so, you’re usually surrounded by great people you’ll possibly never forget (in my case, I met one of my oldest friends riding on a bus when I was about 14-years-old!). And I tell ya, you won’t soon forget the people or the plot of the terrific Remember Me either.
No offense to Twilight or its sequels (in fact, I’ve found the films perfectly entertaining), but a scene from any of the flicks isn’t something an artiste would ever likely attach as a wmv file to their email application to Julliard. Perfectly OK film, but its more style over substance, and quite frankly, there’s nothing much for its stars to do but frown, gaze, eyeball or whimper. As a consequence, we haven’t really seen whether or not Robert ‘good guy vampire Edward’ Pattinson has what it takes as an actor (considering he does more sparkling than performing in the latter films). We know he’s got perfect hair, and he’s definitely got enough charisma on-screen and off to convincingly win over his leading lady, but is the young Brit capable of delivering a performance that’d make those decrepit wrinkled film fans at the Kodak theatre sit up and take notice?
We now have the answer. And, it’s Yes.
Pattinson’s turn as the forlorn, love-struck and appreciably human Tyler in Remember Me is the role that’ll turn the young actor from a movie star to an ‘actor’.
Tyler’s your typical troubled youth. Having his lost older brother a few years before, which in turn has consequently pushed his bigwig father (Pierce Brosnan) even further away than he already was, he’s a bit lost, and seemingly convinced nobody knows what he’s going through. That’s until he meets Ally (Emilie de Ravin), a young girl with just as many horrors in her past, not to mention father problems of her own. Together, Tyler and Ally find happiness and a reason to carry on.
There’s a black cloud hanging over the relationship though. Unbeknownst to Ally, Tyler knows her father, and their coming together had nothing to do with chance. The stern New York Police Detective (Chris Cooper) had arrested him not long before. And it was only when Tyler and his roommate (Tate Ellington) discovered Ally was the officer’s daughter did they decide to approach her.
Directed by Allen Coulter (Hollywoodland) and based on a script by Will Fetters, this highly-emotional journey is all meat. Here, you’ll witness not only fine performances, but be immersed in a story that not only captives, but touches, teaches and quite possibly, makes us a better person as a result. It really is, quite the package.
The romance at the center of the film, performed brilliantly and credibly by Pattinson and Lost star de Ravin, is one of the rawest, realest and most unforced couplings in recent years. It works brilliantly. There’s more fantastical about it at all - thus, you honestly believe they’re a true-blue couple.
Just as credible is the relationship between Pattinson and on-screen father Pierce Brosnan - it plays far more valid than most on-screen father-and-son duos, with the former 007 giving an especially grounded but welcomingly more multifarious take on an armour-clad father, hell-bent on not exposing his real emotions.
And speaking of memorable performances, young Ruby Jerins, playing Tyler’s inhibited and bullied sister, gives one that’ll hopefully catch the attention of the award voters early 2011.
Many will talk of the film’s shock ending, which quite frankly seems to come out of nowhere, as brilliant an idea as it may be, but that hopefully won’t overshadow the fine film that’s played out up til then.
Remember Me is the first great film of 2010. Not to be missed.
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