[starreview tpl=16]

Robert Pattinson’s face has been so associated with the schmaltzy popular teen vampire hysteria known as Twilight, that many have wondered if the young actor could possibly do anything else than look so forlorn. Could he possibly act? Would Pattinson be able to do anything more than be in a perpetual state of need of a bucket of Prozac and look like, OMG, so pained and stuff? The answer may lie in Allen Coulter’s over-the-top drama Remember Me (Hollywoodland). Or it might just be more of the same.

Pattinson plays Tyler Hawkins, a 21-year-old kinda’, sorta’ student at NYU who is awkwardness personified. Fidgety, always uneasy and a lover of the written word, this glum introvert spends his time working in a campus bookstore and arranging novels based on authors deaths and infidelities along with drinking with his party-animal buddy and roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington).

Hawkins spends his days learning on campus through an audit program thanks to his gig at the store. No degree planned. He just loves the books and, yes, the ladies. But don’t judge Tyler too harshly; his heart is a giant beach ball. The son of Charles (Pierce Brosnan), a successful lawyer and a non-existent father, young Hawkins is also the pseudo-father and best friend to his grade-school-aged younger sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins, great here). Caroline attends a posh private school in the city and is branded a “weirdo” by her equally posh and bratty schoolmates. Like her brother Tyler, she’s a deep thinker, a lover of books and –unlike her brother– she’s a talented artist.

Convinced to come out drinking with his pal Aidan, Tyler, drunk off his keister (a common sight in the film), tries to stop a street fight. After the cops arrive along with Sgt. Neil Craig (Chris Cooper), a bloodied Tyler gets even more bruised when he sasses the veteran cop and receives a face-full of car hood.

After a stint in the slammer, Aidan and Tyler learn that Sgt. Craig’s daughter Ally (Emilie de Ravin) also attends NYU. Aidan hatches a plan to get back at the out-of-line cop by talking Tyler into asking the girl out, date her, make her fall in love with him then dump her on her bum. Take that, Officer Meany!

Generally when plans like this occur in romantic dramas, one of the rules is that if a guy starts to date a girl under false pretenses, but actually falls in love with her, the truth will eventually come out and a mammoth, late second-act fight will ensue. Remember Me doesn’t deviate from that plan.

What is striking about this movie is Robert Pattinson. Now with a script that doesn’t merely force the Brit to mope around –though there’s much of that here also– the actor actually showcases his chops quite well, making Remember Me his best yet. Of course, when looking at his previous work, that may not be saying much. Honest, deft and engaging, Pattinson is near brilliant here and should have audiences look forward to more non-Twilight projects in the future.

Along with Pattinson, Tate Ellington (Red Hook) is exceptional as the film’s only source of relief from an unending barrage of sad-sack drama. Ellington’s performance is a ray of blissful sunshine in this bleak and morose film.

From the first scene of this movie, Remember Me uses every trick in the book to force audiences to shed a tear. From a parade of dead loved ones to one of the most emotionally manipulative endings seen in theaters for quite some time, Remember Me is the perfect example of a movie that tries too hard to connect…and never does. But that shouldn’t stop the swooning.

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