Hoppin' mad review of 'Remember Me' reviews

Before I start my rant--and trust me, this will be a rant of epic proportions--I have to warn of spoilage. If you haven’t seen Remember Me yet, first, go see it now! then read on. Now that that’s out of the way, her goes it.

I am hopping made at the reviews I’ve read for Rob Pattinson’s & Emilie DeRavin’s movie Remember Me! For me, the story evoked a sense of internal evolution within not just the main characters, but several supporting roles as well. This is due in part to first time screenwriter Will Fetters subtle script. Fetters developed not one but several satisfying archs in Tyler (Rob Pattinson), Ally (Emilie DeRavin), Caitlin (Ruby Jerins) and Neil Craig (Chris Cooper).The characters were likable even when they were self-destructing. The interdependency between them showed a real-to-life portrayal of what loss can do to a family, positively and negatively, and how explosive those dependencies can be. That’s right, subtle can be explosive Hollywood. That which is withheld is always more poignant than that which is offered--or blown up in our movie going faces in most cases.

Beyond all the storyline and character development defense (Warning: Here’s the RM spoilage.), reviewers seem to be checking their empathy at the ticket counter on this one, which, as previously mentioned, makes me one hopping mad--and offended--Beth.

In most cases, I would be the first to preach setting aside one’s emotions to produce a nonbiased opinion, but this is film. We are supposed to be emotionally moved. That’s what makes for a great story! If you’re not crying, laughing or lost in thought at the end (I was all 3 after RM) than the story fell short. I can’t remember the last time my heart fell so hard while watching a movie when the infamous date appeared and we all just knew; exemplified by a collective sigh in the audience. Despite what I’ve read (website I won‘t even bother crediting because of the level of despicability in its review), I don’t see the ending as a “last ditch effort to evoke emotion”
at all. Remember Me stands as a poignant example of what 9-11 really was: Not a terrorist attack on freedom or western culture of even the Bush administration; it was a deplorable attack on the human race as a whole that took over 2,000 average people‘s lives from them, mid-journey.

What stayed with me long after I left the theater was how much more viscous the event now seemed because I realized that all 2,000+ people at the World Trade Center that day in 2001 were all writing their stories--whether they were on the tenth chapter or the epilogue, it was theirs to finish. Some, like (the character) Tyler, were on the verge of finally getting it right, and it was taken from them and everyone they loved that were making it right.

To ignore the very personal connection every American has to 9-11 while reviewing this film is to read it out of context. The disaster, I think, is not even the catalyst for the viewers tear ridden reaction to the ending--any number of ordinary vehicles could've been utilized--but it is what gives the message weight beyond an “engorged romantic tragedy,”

Entertainment Weekly! There was a time I used to jocularly refer to EW as “The Bible.” Well, today I commit heresy.

I never thought of myself as having a strong connection to 9-11, but that’s only because I knew no one who was directly affected by it. Will Fetters introduced me to people I felt I knew and wished well for all their faults and pasts. He gave me that personal connection and produced a very genuine sense of loss in me as a moviegoer. I have to wonder if all the bad reviews don’t have something to do with reviewers' inability to separate Rob from Edward. I’m the first to proclaim my Team Edward status, but have the sense in me to remove that label when he’s sporting blue eyes and not gold. Me thinks some TW-aters need to check their preconceived notions at the door.

BethDazzled