Forget ‘Twilight’: Pattinson is at his best in ‘Remember Me’

By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson seems to have found a better vehicle for his angst-ridden style of acting. Those who relish him as a lovesick bloodsucker will surely take issue, but until Remember Me, his best acting job was as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Pattinson was woefully miscast as Salvador Dali in last year’s Little Ashes, but playing a contemporary, brooding and lost young man in Remember Me shows that he has more range than is visible in his one-dimensional role as a sexy vampire.

It may strike some Twilight fans as heresy, but he strikes up more chemistry with Emilie de Ravin than he does with Twilight love interest, and purported real-life girlfriend, Kristen Stewart.

Pattinson plays Tyler, an New York University student with a turbulent relationship with his arrogant and emotionally distant father (Pierce Brosnan), a powerful attorney.

Tyler has a convincingly sweet bond with his gifted 11-year-old sister, Caroline (Ruby Jerins). He also has a convenient friendship with a hard-partying college roommate, Aidan (Tate Ellington), who is the key source of the film’s rare lighthearted moments.

Tyler meets fellow NYU student Ally (de Ravin) on a kind of dare, and they quickly connect. Both are sensitive, damaged souls beneath their cool exteriors and verbal banter. Both have suffered tragedies that shape the adults they are becoming.

Ally’s police officer dad (Chris Cooper) is tightly coiled and overprotective. Ally loves him but also chafes at how he tries to control her.

Remember Me is a touching love story, but its broader tale of familial relations packs a greater emotional punch. Elements of the story come off as contrived, with unlikely coincidences linking more realistic moments.

It also has a rather morose tone and sluggish pacing, leavened by the welcome humor of the precocious Caroline and the wastrel pose struck by Aidan.

Pattinson serves as co-executive producer of the film, which is most interesting as a study in loss, grief and resolution.

He seems to be doing his best James Dean, which may be a clichéd choice, but, overall, it’s a gently bittersweet and affecting portrait.