"Reminders of Him" Review
Allow me to start by saying I recognize that the source material for Reminders Of Him is the best selling book by Colleen Hoover (co-writer on the film) of the same name. In Hollywood’s never ending quest to make guaranteed money, Reminders Of Him is the latest adaptation of a popular property that doesn’t work. Director Vanessa Caswill’s film is flat, lacks chemistry amongst its leads and has more cringeworthy moments than the tissue grabbing moments it’s desperately striving for.
The film picks up with Kenna (Maika Monroe) freshly released from prison after serving six years for vehicular manslaughter for a car accident that killed her fiancé, Scotty (Rudy Pankow). She returns to the town of Laramie, where the accident happened, Scotty’s parents still live and most importantly, the child she gave birth to in prison, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), resides. Did I mention Diem lives with Scotty’s parents? Did I mention Scotty’s parents still hold a grudge against Kenna?
Reminders of Him would probably be a solid drama if it was all about Kenna trying to win her almost in-laws’, Patrick (Bradley Whitford) and Grace (Lauren Graham), trust to see her daughter. That’s a difficult task, but Kenna is remorseful for the death of the love of her life and she’s a character we can get behind. That’s a movie about grief, loss and forgiveness I’d be willing to sit through. However, when Kenna returns, she runs into Scotty’s best friend that she never met, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), who now owns the coffee shop-turned-bar that she and Scotty used to frequent. This is where the film goes off the rails and spotlights what the difference between a book and a movie is.
Movies compress and expand time and space. Reading a 336 page book takes time. Watching a two hour movie takes far less time. Watching a half baked story of Scotty and Kenna falling in love and then Kenna moving to a new love that happens to be Scotty’s best friend (this is nothing you couldn’t find out from the trailer) within twenty minutes of each other just feels icky. On top of that, the chemistry between Monroe and Withers is manufactured at best. In fact, this movie relies heavily on songs and music to do the emotional heavy lifting of many scenes rather than visual storytelling and actors performing well.
There are a couple of highlights in the film. Monika Myers, who plays Lady Diana, provided plenty of laughs to the audience I saw the film with. Her running joke throughout the film has been done before but feels genuine. While the romance feels forced, Monroe does have the physical presence of a woman who has been carrying the weight of an accidental death on her shoulders for years. If only Whitford and Graham had more to do in the film!
The movie is at its best when it focuses on Kenna trying to see her daughter. The climax and conclusion gives a little of the emotional weight that could have been. Tim Ives’ cinematography is absolutely gorgeous! He captures the rolling mountains, sprawling landscapes and lights the moods of the film so well. However, no matter how pretty the film is, it can’t cover the holes and flaws of Reminders of Him. It’s like Tubi and Lifetime had a baby that made it to the big screen!
Rating: D+
There are a couple of highlights in the film. Monika Myers, who plays Lady Diana, provided plenty of laughs to the audience I saw the film with. Her running joke throughout the film has been done before but feels genuine. While the romance feels forced, Monroe does have the physical presence of a woman who has been carrying the weight of an accidental death on her shoulders for years. If only Whitford and Graham had more to do in the film!
The movie is at its best when it focuses on Kenna trying to see her daughter. The climax and conclusion gives a little of the emotional weight that could have been. Tim Ives’ cinematography is absolutely gorgeous! He captures the rolling mountains, sprawling landscapes and lights the moods of the film so well. However, no matter how pretty the film is, it can’t cover the holes and flaws of Reminders of Him. It’s like Tubi and Lifetime had a baby that made it to the big screen!
Rating: D+
"Get Out" Review: An Instant Classic
Let’s face the facts, meeting any significant other’s parents for the first time is plain scary! Add in the fact that you’re an interracial couple and it can add a little weight to that. In writer/director Jordan Peele’s Get Out, he takes that premise, a dash of suspense, and real world issues to make a refreshingly original take on meeting the ‘rents.
Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) is an upcoming photographer who is going to his girlfriend Rose’s (Allison Williams) home for the weekend to meet her parents. While the love between the two is strong, there’s no question that Chris is a little anxious to meet her parents, Dean (Bradley Whitford) and Missy (Catherine Keener) Armitage. After encountering a deer the hard way, Chris gets his first introduction to Rose’s hometown through the local police. This is where we first see how Peele is telling his horror through real life issues of being black in America. During the exchange, we witness Rose talk back and be confrontational with the officer, while Chris does just the opposite with a smile. Thus, the dichotomy begins.
After arriving at her parent’s home, Chris navigates through the normal awkward attempts to relate with lines like “I would have voted for Obama a third time”, or “my man!” However, it’s Walter (Marcus Henderson) the groundskeeper and Georgina (Betty Gabriel) that make Chris squirm. As he attempts to talk with them, they seem to have no soul, which in this film refers to black culture, in them. Things only get more peculiar as the weekend goes on. Whether it’s a late night hypnosis session that Chris barely remembers, meeting Andrew Logan King (Lakeith Stanfield) who seems familiar, or his cell phone being unplugged at night, it all starts to add up into a horrifying tale.
The key to this film is the manipulation of space and time, framing, sound, and good storytelling. Peele’s pacing of the film is perfect. Things move at just the right pace as to lure you in and speed up once it’s too late to stop. He gives us in your face close-ups that heighten the sense of alarm within the film. Yet it’s his script that’s the backbone of this sure to be instant classic.
Kaluuya and Gabriel give memorable performances in their roles as black people “trapped” in a white world. Their faces say so much more than words. Simultaneously, without the creepy opposition of Williams, Keener, Whitford, and Caleb Landry Jones as Jeremy Armitage, you wouldn’t have the tension that is felt so much throughout the film.
Get Out is a film that you have to see more than once to catch everything that was thrown at you. There’s no doubt that it’s a horror/mystery for this generation! Equipped with the comedy of Chris’s best friend Rod (LilRel Howery) who stands in the gap for the audience who would regularly be yelling at the screen, this film knows what it’s doing and knows what you’re thinking!
Rating: A