REMEMBER ME
(12A, 112 mins)
Two stars
Starring Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Chris Cooper, Lena Olin, Tate Ellington, Ruby Jerins, Pierce Brosnan, Gregory Jbara, Martha Plimpton

The title of Allen Coulter’s soporific tale of young love on the streets of 2001 New York softly pleads for remembrance.

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Yet, the only thing that lingers in the memory about his film is the use of real-life tragedy to provide a final emotional punch.

First time screenwriter Will Fetters stretches 30 minutes of drama to almost two hours of screen time, relying on the actors to scowl and brood while they wait for something to happen to their characters.

And no-one pouts with more conviction than Robert Pattinson, stepping away briefly from his signature role as lovesick vampire, Edward Cullen in the Twilight saga.

Doubling up as executive producer, the English actor glowers and sulks with gusto, and is just as lifeless here as he is in the Twilight films.

When it comes to anguish and broken hearts, these dysfunctional 21-year-olds are fiercely competitive.

Tyler Hawkins (Pattinson) is the black sheep of a wealthy New York family headed by his attorney father, Charles (Brosnan).

During a night on the town with room-mate Aidan (Ellington), Tyler clashes with Sergeant Neil Craig (Cooper) from the NYPD, who throws the two young men in a cell for the night.

To spite the bullish cop, Tyler woos Craig’s rebellious daughter, Ally (de Ravin), with the intention of breaking her heart as revenge for the arrest.

Unexpectedly, Tyler falls head over heels for Ally. Yet the truth about Tyler’s motives for dating her will out.

Remember Me is an incredibly pedestrian portrait of family life that wallows in the misery of the lead characters and only resolves their communication problems in a messy final act.

Pattinson doesn’t have to emote for the majority of the film, just drift aimlessly into and out of shot, while de Ravin does her best to pretend that Ally would fall for such an inexpressive loser.