Sunday, March 14, 2010

Remember Me - Round Three

WARNING - SPOILERS AHEAD

FINALLY! It's about time you watched that damn movie again!!!

We came, we saw, we conquered. Remember Me, that is. Our attempts at watching this movie yesterday was thwarted by 50 mph gusts of winds, shitty audio and pimply boys. This time around Snarkier Than You wore her lucky Twitarded shirt and low and behold, we finally got to see Remember Me for the second time.

As I've said before, I didn't like this movie. Upon second viewing I would say that statement has changed but only slightly. I still don't like the film, but I didn't come away with the same bitter feeling that I had the first time I saw it.

That being said - Robert Pattinson can act. Now, we've questioned Robert Pattinson's acting ability more than once on this blog and my first thought after viewing Remember Me today was "Phew! The boy really can act!" I truly think that RPattz did a decent job in this movie as the angsty, anger-filled Tyler Hawkins. He was a believable character.

Jenny Jerkface thinks I can act!! YESSSSSSSSS!!!!

However, Remember Me really just didn't "do it" for me. The story sort of plodded along, leaving a steady streak of tragedy in its wake. It didn't really captivate me and, while I loved some of the characters (Caroline and Aidan stole the show for me), I didn't particularly find anything terribly interesting about the two main characters. Believable, yes. Would I actually want to know them? Nope.

Here's the thing - if Remember Me was just another love story that ends tragically, it probably wouldn't have elicited such a knee-jerk negative reaction out of me. I would have watched it as I nibbled on my pretzel bites, felt a twinge of sorrow when fate inevitably delivers it's killing blow and then went about my merry way.

Shhhhh, Rob, it's okay. She didn't totally hate it...

But Remember Me wasn't just a love story. They had to go and end it with the September 11th terrorist attacks and that took a big giant shit all over the movie. Remember Me was not a movie about September 11th until the last ten minutes. Then it suddenly, and wholly, transforms into a 9/11 movie. I'm sure this was not the intention of the writers but at the end of the day, Remember Me was simply not strong enough to stand above it's own final moments.

And it kind of pissed me off.

I will concede that they were at least tasteful about the ending (if a plane had shown up on the screen, I would have had a meltdown) but I feel like they used that tragedy to get one last giant emotional pull from the audience. It was a big, swift kick to the emotional nuts. It was like that one last forceful jerk on your heartstrings, in case the whole damn movie didn't do the job. It was the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel... with an AK 47. I did think the ending was wholly unnecessary and a little exploitative. I'm not mad that they used 9/11 - I'm disappointed that they didn't use it right.

For the sake of full disclosure, I have to admit that perhaps I feel... very strongly when it comes to the subject of September 11th. I think even Snarkier Than You was a bit surprised when I finally admitted how difficult it was for me to watch the movie not just once, but twice. I don't normally wear my heart on my sleeve but this is the one topic that will evoke very strong emotions in me.

I've read all of your comments and I know that most of you don't agree with my opinion on this flick, specifically the ending. The beauty of any art form is that it is open to interpretation and, at the very least, Remember Me is given us all a lot to discuss. I'm a fan of discussion.

I do not think that 9-11 should ever be forgotten. And I think for many, forgetting is an impossibility. That tragedy is a constant, albeit quiet, whisper in the back of my mind nearly every time I step off the train in New York Penn Station and see the National Guard with their big ass guns and dogs wandering around. I sometimes look at my fellow commuters and wonder if they were there, and if they still think about the coworkers and friends they have lost. I know that I can not ever forget that day. When I first took the job in the city, I discussed with both ML and my parents what course of action I would take if something ever happened and I couldn't come home. It wasn't an easy conversation, needless to say.

There are times when I look at the skyline, and realize with a small pain in my heart that this "new" skyline, the one with the gaping hole where the towers once stood, has now become the familiar view to me.

I don't think we should ever forget September 11, 2001. It would be a great disservice to all who have lost their lives and the loved ones they've left behind. But I don't think that "Remember Me" is up to the task of properly memorializing the events of that day.

47 comments:

  1. bummed you didn't like it. but i totally get your point.

    i think the best part of this movie for twitards is the fact that rob showed off his acting chops. oh, and the fact that he was yummy to look at for 2 hours.

    thanks for your honesty and your kick ass blog!

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  2. While I don't completely understand all that you feel, I see where you're coming from. It makes me sad that you and STY were disappointed by the Precious! I'm just so protective of him ;)

    At least we agree on one thing-Our boy can act!!

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  3. I couldn't pin-point why this film bugged. Why I didn't absolutely love it...and you nailed it for me. I knew the ending was coming, thanks to a spoiler, however I thought their would be some clues leading up to it. It just happens...out of nowhere.
    I'm sure, much like the real day. I can't put it as eloquently as you did, but if they were going to use 9/11, I feel they should have eased into it a bit, OR not used it at all. Not sure if that makes sense.

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  4. Hmm..I don't think they were trying to memorialize it. I think it was more of what you said before, they were just going for that final pull of your heartstrings (to rip it from your chest) as if there wasn't enough heart fail. I think that it is simply a movie of one family's dysfunction, and how it happened to be turned around by Sept 11th. Yes the dad was making progress with his kids, Tyler was making progress with falling in love and giving his dad a chance, but when Tyler was also taken from their lives in the way he was, it brought the dad back to his daughter. *sigh* I wonder if the fact that this is one of the first movies that has attempted to touch on the the subject in this way - makes it a harder pill to swallow...
    All that being said, I still have VERY mixed feelings as I posted earlier. I don't do books, fan fic or movies that are HEA, I just don't. I get enough real life, in REAL life - I don't want to watch that shit for fun. But I watched it, having read NO spoilers all to see Rob..and THAT I did, and he was GOOD, so I can't say it was total fail..not by a long shot.

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  5. I read many of the other comments on your previous posting about "Remember Me". And I have to agree with them. It's not that I don't see your point JJ. But (for me) this movie was touching, well acted, and I thought it was a tribute to the memory of 9/11. The fact that someone real (who was maybe like Tyler) could have died that day makes it all the more touching. The senselessness of a death like that -- i.e. someone who didn't even work in the towers but was just visiting. A young man who was just starting to get his life together...

    I thought the acting was great all around. But particularly Rob. I wasn't sure what he'd be like in this film. And I must say he was really great. Emilie kept slipping out of her American accent, and that distracting me. But Rob was fully believable.

    Yes, it's a movie where lots of tragedy befalls these people for no apparent reason, but it was relate-able for me.

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  6. JJ-definate points well taken.
    I did not get the feeling that Remember Me was trying to properly memorialize 911. I don't know of any movie that could do that topic justice. September 11 was a "normal" day until some idiots went and fucked it up. It pisssed me off too because all that unexpected emotion came back and I seriously got that pit in my stomach that hasn't left for a few days. The message was not about 911, but about life- tell people that you love them cause you just never know...
    If they had killed him off another way, I don't think that point would have been as grandly illustrated.
    PS-Rob was HOT, and I thought he was brave to take on this little movie.

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  7. JJ - thanks for an insightful post. We're all entitled to our own opinions, of course, but I absolutely agree with most of your sentiments on RM. I really enjoyed most of this movie, for its little moments and little funny parts, touching things and the actors. Unfortunately all I'll remember five years from now was how the last 10 minutes of it ripped my effing heart out and then shoved it back down my throat.
    Yes, it was thought-provoking and discussion-making, but really, did we need it to be like that? None of us will ever forget September 11, 2001. I'm conflicted because while I think the ending was done tastefully and poignantly, I question if it was a rather cheap ploy, like you said, to yank on our heartstrings for the big finish.
    All in all, the acting was great. Would I go see it again? I really don't think so. At least not until it's on DVD and I can avoid the ending (and the beginning, for that matter).

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  10. I can see what you mean about the ending JJ. My mum lost one of her friends on 9/11 and I left the theatre feeling like Jessica in New Moon where she's talking about the zombie movie she just watched and comparing it with her cousin with leprosy.

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  11. @HV-Too funny!!

    PS-Where were the damn scenes with the baseball cap on? And that ugly sweater we saw during filming?
    Yep, that is about all I can complain about. Did I mention that Rob was hot? I would not make a good film critic! And, I ate my dessert first today, just in case..

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  12. I didn't get from the movie that they were trying to memorialize 9/11. I don't think you could even say it's a 9/11file. I think was simply a portrayal of normal everyday, screwed up people, living their day to day, trying to figure it out lives, and that day happened.

    I have had the weekend to process it and I want to see it again, and I would no want to even if it wasn't him in it.

    I am glad that I had read a spoiler going into it, or I would have completely and utterly lost it....I still love you JJ and Snark...I can't imagine anyone here would deny you guys your own opinions or leave the blog. If they did they wouldn't be worthy of twatwaffleness, even if you guys thought it was the biggest suck-fest you had ever seen.

    Hey, we didn't even have the freakin' Eclipse trailer at ours!!!

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  13. awww damn JJ ~ I just want to hug you now!
    I love the post ~ but most of all I love that we can all disagree!
    What a fantastic, supportive, intelligent group you've gathered here!
    Cheers!!
    (with the exception of Hypoallergenic Vagina!)

    but ahh... yeah... when will you be exploring the... peen post?

    and fuck Google acct. ~ will not let me sign in!

    Ginny

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  14. I'm just curious if the twitards who didn't like the ending would have felt differently if Remember Me had been promoted as a movie about a person's life who died on September 11th? If you knew that was the plot going in, would it have made a difference?

    I don't feel that the movie is about making the most of life because at any second it could be ripped away from you...but that's a different (and very long) comment all together.

    Perhaps some peen will lift all our spirits:)

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  15. Whew! Thanks for sitting through it twice JJ, esp. when it was hard for you to do so. I actually think this is one RPattz movie I will NOT be buying (I literally own everything else own-able).

    Bring on the peen!

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  16. Okay, I'm going to respond. I totally get what you are saying. I wondered how a person who actually lived in New York during that time would react to the last ten minutes of this movie.

    I would like to say, as someone who lived on the west coast during that time, that there is (atleast for me) a slightly different perspective. I don't know anyone who was personally effected by that day. I didn't look out the window and see the smoke. I don't look at the skyline and notice the gaping hole because I don't have anything to compare it to. For people that lived in other parts of the U.S and the world, it was a horrible story that unfolded before our eyes as we watched the television that morning, not something we lived ourselves. Now, ten years later, it's a lesson in the history books, and a blip on the news when there is debate about global policy. It's not personal anymore, atleast not to the majority of people. It's an event in the past.

    I think, the one thing this movie does is that it gives a face to the tragedy, instead of focusing on the event itself. It allows the viewer to get caught up in the life of a flawed person who was trying to move their life forward the best way they could, with no idea of what the future would inevitably hold.

    It reminded me that so many lives, just like his, where senslessly cut short that day. That in the end, it's the people we should remember.

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  17. I have been reading your blog everyday for quite a while now and I absolutely love it! It is a bright spot in my otherwise sometimes dreary life! Thank you for all the time and effort you put into it each day!

    This is my first time to comment so I hope that what I say makes sense!

    I just got back from my second viewing of Remember Me and I feel very differently about it than you do. I completely understand and repspect your opinion and feelings. I am not a New Yorker, in fact I am sad to say I have never even visited. I have always wanted to, but have never had the opportunity.

    Like most Americans I remember clearly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news of the Sept. 11th attack. I was shocked and horrified and felt great compassion for the many thousands of people who were directly affected.

    Remember Me made the death of each individual real to me in a way it never really has been. The tears I shed in the theater were not for the fictional Tyler Hawkins,(although that was devasting too) but for the real people who were in those buildings on that day and the families they left behind. The movie made me realize that each one of them had a story too.

    I don't think the ending was an afterthought at all. I think it was woven through out the whole story and was planned from the very beginning.

    I usually hate sad ending movies! I can't count the number of times I have cursed Nicholas Sparks! With that being said, Remember Me touched me in a way that very few movies ever have. That's just my own personal feelings and opinion, for what it's worth!

    I do have to add that I thought Rob did an awesome job and I loved him in this movie!

    Sorry this is soooo long!

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  18. I'm probably the only Rob fan that hasn't seen it yet. I kinda wanted to see it in an emptyish theater. Anyways, I just have 2 thoughts. From what I hear, it reminds me of what James Cameron did with Titanic (fictional but believable story of what the regular day was leading up to the big iceburg)....anyways, JJ I can understand where you are coming from... Like the other 911 movies, I just STILL think it's too soon. I think any movie done on 911 should have their box office $$$ going to the families that lost loved ones. But that's just my opinion.

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  19. Well done, JJ, well done. You were far more diplomatic about your feelings than I was, and that's a good thing.

    I think the fact that so many people had a good experience with this movie and the ending helps to soften my anger a bit.

    But I agree completely with you and STY.

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  20. thanks for the post jj. good to know you hated the ending. i see your points.

    i for one am not offended, but rather thankful, that i was blindsided by the ending, and that my heart was ripped from my chest and shoved back down my throat. my price to pay pales in comparison to others, i'm sure.

    two memories came flooding into my mind at the moment of my realization that tyler stood gazing out into forced eternity - one that we are all a part of - what we all knew was coming, but he blissfully did not:

    first, i keenly recalled picking up my 2 yr old daughter from daycare that evening of 9-11. after walking to work and seeing cars pulled over, people grouped together listening to the radio, all stunned silent w/shiny eyes wide open; having actually seen the other plane hit tower 2 in real time on tv...i'll never forget the feel of my daughter in my arms and the smell of her hair, and how very glad i was to mark the moment in my heart.

    secondly, i recall the loss; of watching hours & hours of live coverage that night, sitting in the middle of my kingsize bed. i remember at one point they showed passenger lists of those who died on the planes. and there was a family - a mom & dad and their two daughters - gone. just gone. a whole fucking family. a family's name on a list, on television for all of us to see.

    for me, it's not a question of "too soon". it will always be "too soon" to revisit death and dismemberment. but we will and we do. because we can.

    it's not a question of bad use of a "contrived ending". no one ever wants to go there intentionally. most of us go kicking and screaming into THAT good light.

    for me, it's a chance to feel again how much people mean to me - a reason to remember the lost, the beloved and yes, all the pain, as fresh as if it were yesterday. prick me - do i not bleed?

    i'm simply glad to just be here to feel such heartache. it is the pain and scars in life that make us who we are.

    so thank you summit, for putting yourself out there on this most controversial of topics.

    and snaps for casting the most recognizable man on the planet as the lead - really, would we have cared so much if it had been any one else?

    thank you for shaking up my shit enough to bring the tears and connect with like-minded others who have the passion to love the movie or hate it - but FEEL it nonetheless.

    fucking. brilliant.
    and i'm not talking about the movie now...

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  21. @RobzSinger - yes, I think I would've felt completely different about it had I known it was about "someone who died on 9/11."

    All in all, I liked the movie. When I left the theater, I felt nauseated and sad and declared I would never watch it again. My friends and I jokingly brought those lovely paper drapes you wear when you're getting a pap smear (I'm an NP and we stole them from the office) to wear to "protect our clothes from the drool" and were laughing it up taking pictures of ourselves wearing them in the the theater before the movie started. When I got home, I was going to post them to my facebook, and actually felt for a minute that it would be inappropriate to do so. I think it was a powerful movie, but if I ponder it too much, the ending overshadows the ungh-ness of The Precious.

    On my way home from the movie, I actually thought, "I wonder what JJ and STY will think..." See, you guy are the only people I "know" who were close enough to potentially have really been there.

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  22. @neverthink - love your post. You've captured the essence of what the movie is about. Thank you. And, you're right. We wouldn't be having this discussion or back and forth analysis if this film didn't have Rob as it's main star. The fact that he can draw out emotions and thoughts from us all tells us that he did an amazing job and is truly someone who is memorable. Oh and I swear, he's got real intelligent fans!!! :-)

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  23. Just saying, watch New Moon or Twilight after watching Rob "really" act changes how you watch Twilight. I felt like I watched New Moon with new eyes yesterday. All of a sudden I was even more in love with him! If nothing else good comes out of Remember Me, I think it enhances the viewing of Twilight Saga

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  24. It's been a long time (2 months) since I've checked out the blog. Work has been a massive clit cruncher and 140 characters in the twitterverse has been what I can be attentive to. But I'm back.



    I grew up in NYC-Manhattan. And I have an ache for 9/11 in a few degrees of NY way - even though I wasn't there. But my dad was and my sister was downtown at the time. And I remember where I was and how I was when I saw the 2nd plane hit live on NBC.

    Even though I feel this I know I am also somewhat removed because I wasn't "there". And I have no doubt that this use of 9/11 just feels manipulative. Though one of the uses of it - is that we all know it is no ones fault to be in the tower. that it is just a very sad fate. So if Tyler had been hit by a car or something else there would have been more questions than answers.

    The towers makes his death a finality that needs no response. no questions. no investigation. But it doesn't make it feel any less manipulative right?

    The need to move on as a whole city and nation is something that we all can relate to. It somehow helps knowing that everyone was trying to heal through it - together. Which makes Ali's subway ride more understandable because everyone was trying to get through it..to be brave - to band together. Never before had NY'ers had this commonality. And I believe that is part of the healing for the whole family in remember Me. i believe this could be a strong theme - but it wasn't revealed by any means. so i don't know if I'm hitting it right. So in a sense this family was reborn by 9/11 and Tyler's passing - as just getting down to what is really important and not trying to figure it all out as they were with the brother.

    also - I think it possible that there are many stories of simple decent fucked up lives like this that got snuffed out on 9/11. And in a way this film says they didn't die in vain. none of them did. that it changed their families forever. and that they were loved - even if they brought a lot of conflict to others..and to themselves.

    OK - I'm sounding like a movie you don't want to see because you're not into that kind of thing.
    Thanks for reading - if you still are. xo,Karen

    But..If you don't like these kinds of stories - this could all just feel like a script writer's ploy to get you to feel "something".

    p.s. I took the subway to school everyday since 3rd grade. I often feared the scene that took place on the tracks. It seems to be a NYer experience - the cab ride :"going to queens and don't want to hear about it".

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  25. @kintheflo. i read the post. all of it.

    thank you.

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  26. Love you JJ. Very eloquently said. I lost a dear friend in 9/11 (ironically she worked on the 92nd floor) and I myself commuted via PATH for 10 yrs into the WTC. I was indeed offended by the ending of the movie. And I continue to be offended by the marketing of it as some light hearted romance. What was Rob thinking?

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  27. I generally liked the movie, but I think I have a little bit of a biased view due to the orgasm-inducing hotness emanating from the screen.

    Some scenes were over done. But that's another topic.

    With that being said, I fell like this movie is the Titanic of 9/11. While there were so many good stories that could have been told about the Titanic and September 11th, respectively. They chose to create a completely fictional love story. I think that in Remember Me, they could have eluded to the fact that it was leading up to that type of a ending a little bit more and people would not have been so upset. Because, at least in Titanic you know the boat is going down.

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  28. I read somewhere that the writer was reading the mini obits after 9/11 and got the idea for the script, that people needed their stories told. Some critics pan it for putting teasers in the movie from the beginning, foreshadowing the twin towers and 9/11, Other's say the ending was just out of the blue to manipulate the audience. I think the idea began with 9/11 and blended several scenerios into the story that became Remember Me. I understand people in New York still feeling raw about the emotions of that day and very protective of everything about it. My husband was a firefighter and I lost him a few years before 9/11, so the title of the film Remember Me pulls at me. The message of the film I agree with is live you life NOW, you don't know if there will be a tomorrow. It doesn't have to come from a terroist attack, just love your family, friends, hold them close, don't waste a single minute.

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  29. OK, I just popped my Twitarded cherry yesterday, and I'm feeling unexpectedly pregnant all the sudden. Too serious. Too soon. Not ready.

    But I have been lurking long enough to love you, STY and JJ, so Thank You. Your comments are sympatico with my virginal comment of "really, little movie?" RM does seem to bite off a bit more than it can chew.

    But, The Day After (my first viewing), I have to say that my most prominent feeling is wow, time has passed. 9/11 is suddenly fair game. I feel like a parent watching a kid graduate from high school, knowing I don't have control over anything anymore. Our copyright has expired. It's out there for general use and consumption now. Interesting that Rob was an EP, and the two leads weren't Americans. Maybe that afforded them just a modicum more distance in order to go for it. But, overall, cheers, I say. Not sure the outcome was standing ovation worthy, but thanks for letting me know 9+ fucking years have passed and reminding me how my world has been shaped by a few assholes, a couple of planes, and a lot of senseless deaths (are there other kinds of deaths?)

    @HypoVag: thanks for keeping it silly, since silly is why we can wake up tomorrow

    @Neverthink, Kin the Flo, Anonymous, JJ, STY, etc etc etc thanks for being real when silly wasn't enough for the moment.

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  30. JJ, I totally agree with you. I was crying when I finished reading your post. I have no word. I love you for life!

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  31. I appreciate your honesty. I remember an interviewer or reviewer mentioning that 9/11/01 in some context of the film and I decided then and there I wasn't seeing it. I joke that Matt Damon was cuter and that was why - it's just funnier to state that vs. I don't need an emotional reminder of that day or how the day (and events afterwards) impacted my life hence forth. People always need you to explain why and I won't nor do I need/want to. It just does.

    I've told a few in a rant or another site and via skype that Twitter idiots were jumping on folks, myself included for refusing to see the film. How dare we not see and support a film RPattz is in - simple, I don't have to nor need to. He isn't my son, brother, or lovah. If it was Mike Welch or Justin Chon there wouldn't been on Remember Me Saturday. Regardless I'm getting off point. Thanks for your honest review and I'm glad to read others feel that it wasn't necessary for the corporation (my word) to use the events on 9/11/01 to make an impact.

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  32. Wow...so cynical....I loved the movie....it took me through all my emotions.....funny how noone has really mentioned how SEXY Rob is and how I now can really picture him when I fantasize about him....

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  33. Hey all.

    First of all, I want to thank everyone for being respectful of each others' opinions.

    @RobsZinger - Yes, I think I would have felt differently if this movie had been marketed as a 9/11 movie.


    @KintheFlo - Well said. Very well said. And welcome back.

    Many of you have said that this movie has given a face to so many people who have died and I do agree with you (mostly) about that.

    I do remember reading in the Newsweek critique that the demographic this movie is intended for were very young when 9/11 happened - it's just history to them. So maybe this movie does help them because it gives them a character they can relate to and brings history back to life just a little bit. While that doesn't change my overall opinion, it does make it only slightly better to swallow.

    I'm glad that I saw the movie, if only so we can all have this discussion. I'm always amazed at how many different interpretations people have of films, books, etc.

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  34. I saw this movie completely unspoiled. I regret that now. I worked in WTC2 and when that ending hit, I had to leave. Completely shocked. Completely pissed. I'm all for movies and books dealing with 9/11 (although I probably won't be able to read or see them), but 9/11 had nothing to do with the rest of that movie. It had nothing to do with the story and although I thought there was other good stuff in there, that ending is all I remember. I feel like it canceled out everything that happened before.
    Anyway, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who had an issue with it. I posted my review in my blog and got called a spoiled American and had all the clues that showed it was so clearly happening in 2001 pointed out to me. ♥

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  35. MyHeartGoesPitterPattinsonMarch 15, 2010 at 10:47 AM

    I've seen the movie twice. I had no idea what to think when I left the first viewing. It shook me to my core. I couldn't sleep that night. I still have somewhat mixed feelings. I can totally understand why some people are going to hate it and I respect their outlook completely.

    I did not hate it. Yes the ending was a swift slap in the face that came out of nowhere, kind of like the actual events of that day. I mean whether it was right or wrong and whether you hated it or not, they kind of nailed the torrent of emotions and utter horror brought on that day. I don't think either of the other movies that were marketed specifically as 9/11 films were able to cause the emotions in me that this film did. That has to say something.

    Here's the other reason I could appreciate the film: I had never considered the fact, for some ridiculous reason, that there were surely a number of families who lost loved ones that day who were ALREADY coping with the loss of a loved one, who had already lived through a family tragedy.

    There were parts of the film that could use improvement. Personally, Aidan felt like he was overacting to me. Caroline's hair getting chopped. Devastating, yes. Family emergency? Probably not so much. I read one review that said, you would have thought she'd been molested at the party from the family's reaction. They could have toned that down and kept the class room scene. That was believable. You can damn well bet if my 21 year old brother was dropping off my 12 year old sister and that shit had gone down, he would have reacted the exact same way.

    Anyhow, I'm rambling and have yet to do any real work...just wanted to give my 1.5 cents. (Not really worth a full 2 cents)

    Summary: I totally get and appreciate why some people will hate the movie. I simply decided anything that can make an emotional "ritard" like me feel feelings AND think about others gets props from me.

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  36. It sounds like the biggest issue you have with this movie is the ending and that the movie as a whole wasn't big enough to carry a 9/11 subplot? While I completely understand what you are saying, I believe that the whole point of the movie was that you never know when some event (whether it be a car accident or a trauma such as 9/11) is going to take you from this world, so make every day "worth it". Did they go for the "Big Kahuna" by using 9/11? Yes. And, perhaps, as you said, they "used" 9/11 to make the biggest impact they could. But, sometimes, it takes a major event such as that to really hit home for people.

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  37. I completely agree with you about the unnecessary use of 9/11. The events really had nothing to do with the actual movie and it truly felt that the writers used it for shock effect rather than for substance.

    I was very impressed by Robert Pattinson's acting abilities and was completely turned on throughout the movie by his soulful stares and his sensitivity. I agree that the characters were very believable but that did not take me very far.

    I think that the movie would have done far better if 9/11 were just completely taken out of the movie. I would have liked it better with an undefined ending that would leave you guessing whether Tyler finally made a decision- about everything.

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  38. This is my final word on the subject...for today.

    Using 911 in a movie doesn't make a movie profound..if it had no chance of being profound without it.

    Feel free to put that on a t-shirt.

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  39. Thanks Jj for welcoming me back.:)..I have thought a great deal more about this since reading everyone's post.

    It struck me in the gut that if i had no idea about this film's ending and had a personal experience like shana that I'd be pretty pissed. I heard rumors about the 9/11 connection but not the plot. I don't know how you could include 9/11 in any film in a truly tastefully. also - think of all the World War films told around love stories. there are many out there. But you know they are war movies where here it is the "twist"..and "twist" and 9/11 are not good bedroom companions. I cringe at the thought. So I love being able to talk-write-read views from twitards. Your opinions actually mean something to me. really.

    and yes ;the anonymous responsder I agree- we now have avery schmexy image of Rob that we didn't have before..And it's not just a photograph lookin human and oh so good.

    that.is. all. (for now) tootles

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  40. I was very young in 2001 (right below 10, I believe) and don't have many memories of that time, and since I don't live anywhere even remotely close to the US (I live in Sweden. That's the country everyone gets mixed up with Switzerland...) I can't say that I was strongly affected by the tragedy, when it happened.

    However, two years back (early 2008) I went to New York, and to Ground Zero. I couldn't help but be affected by everything surrounding me. It was everywhere, and I was surprised to see how some of the people visiting seemed to take it lightly, laughing as they walked by the symbols of grief. I broke down.

    So I understand how you feel about the ending of the movie. But I actually felt like I got a greater understanding for how the true New Yorkers experienced 9/11. It made me see that day in a new way. It was no longer something that had happened "a few years back, and it was awful" but it became something more to me, it became what it really was - the change of an entire nation, and the change of our world.

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  41. Love you JJ, thanks for enduring it a second time in order to give us your thoughts. I wanted to run out of the theater at the end too but my hand was attached to my friend's leg at the time, and I think I'd also ceased breathing which made moving difficult.

    I agree that Rob did a good job, our boy can act after all! I hope Bel Ami gives us what we're all after: good acting and a whole lot of naked Precious, moles and all.

    I need to escape into more fanfic to wash my brain of all this seriousness and tragic deep thinking! ;)

    Love you massively, our sweet Jenny Twatwaffle! Keep the twi-faith!

    veriword: snuff. If Scummit keeps pulling these kinds of punches, they'll end up snuffed.

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  42. I am really thankful RP did this movie. I hate the end? Yes! I regret watching it? No! My name's Alessandra and I was 24 by 9/11. And I'm from (far away) Brazil and totally understand when Sara says "I can't say that I was strongly affected by the traged". I do remember where I was -- standing in front of a TV set, thinking of testimoning a historical moment (like the fall of Berlin Wall). Now I sincerelly apologize for that! After RM I felt really very bad of myself! Thanks to RM and RP I could see the faces/lives/families behind the 9/11 and experienced a tiny of their losses and now I can say I'm a better person bc of it! And JJ, I got your point too -- If I were NYer I'd really be this pissed off. Now I strongly believe that 9/11 will always needed to be told tho.

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  43. I have not seen the movie yet and it is because of the 9/11 ending....I still find it very hard to recall the events of that day. I was born and raised in NJ almost my whole life and had been living in LA in Sept 2001. I watched in horror as the world I grew up in collapsed. I remember so vividly as a first grader when the towers were built and how proud I felt that we had the tallest buildings in the world (and I felt sorry for the Empire State building). So, because of the ending of the movie, I will not see it in the theater but will watch at home. I have enjoyed reading all the comments this movie has generated - many of them have made me cry. And now I am going to scroll back up to the peen post, cuz I want to laugh and snort out loud and peer closely at crotch shots and be wholly inappropriate for a woman my age! Ah, fuck it .....being appropriate is highly overrated!

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  44. Very well said, JJ. I was wondering when someone would actually have to cohones to bring this up. I haven't seen the movie yet, but being born and bred in New York State, I was disappointed none of the main actors were even American. Not that they can't sympathize, but I believe only a true New Yorker could do the subject matter and emotions surrounding 9-11 justice.
    XO,
    Rachael

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  45. JJ, I totally agree with you. I was crying when I finished reading your post. I have no word. I love you for life!

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  46. I generally liked the movie, but I think I have a little bit of a biased view due to the orgasm-inducing hotness emanating from the screen.

    Some scenes were over done. But that's another topic.

    With that being said, I fell like this movie is the Titanic of 9/11. While there were so many good stories that could have been told about the Titanic and September 11th, respectively. They chose to create a completely fictional love story. I think that in Remember Me, they could have eluded to the fact that it was leading up to that type of a ending a little bit more and people would not have been so upset. Because, at least in Titanic you know the boat is going down.

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  47. I have been reading your blog everyday for quite a while now and I absolutely love it! It is a bright spot in my otherwise sometimes dreary life! Thank you for all the time and effort you put into it each day!

    This is my first time to comment so I hope that what I say makes sense!

    I just got back from my second viewing of Remember Me and I feel very differently about it than you do. I completely understand and repspect your opinion and feelings. I am not a New Yorker, in fact I am sad to say I have never even visited. I have always wanted to, but have never had the opportunity.

    Like most Americans I remember clearly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news of the Sept. 11th attack. I was shocked and horrified and felt great compassion for the many thousands of people who were directly affected.

    Remember Me made the death of each individual real to me in a way it never really has been. The tears I shed in the theater were not for the fictional Tyler Hawkins,(although that was devasting too) but for the real people who were in those buildings on that day and the families they left behind. The movie made me realize that each one of them had a story too.

    I don't think the ending was an afterthought at all. I think it was woven through out the whole story and was planned from the very beginning.

    I usually hate sad ending movies! I can't count the number of times I have cursed Nicholas Sparks! With that being said, Remember Me touched me in a way that very few movies ever have. That's just my own personal feelings and opinion, for what it's worth!

    I do have to add that I thought Rob did an awesome job and I loved him in this movie!

    Sorry this is soooo long!

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