Mark Palansky's sci fi mystery has its heart just about in the right place but the rest of the film isn't.
Sam Bloom (Peter Dinklage) becomes determined to solve the murder of "genius" Gordon Dunn (Martin Donovan) the inventor of the "Rememory Machine" a device that allows you to witness your life memories. Meanwhile Bloom struggles with his grief and memories concerning the death of his brother.
Premiering at Sundance with starting 8.9 on IMDb and fantastic unique premise, Rememory looked liked a dream come true, until its recent release in the USA, and free limited viewing period on Google Play, which has lead to very poor reviews. But there is no right opinion just a majority so you never know whether you personally will like it. Well I can say for myself that the film does have so many things wrong with it....but in my book its not entirely terrible.
Written by Michael Vukadinovich, this story has so much potential to be something really meaningful. This is something that the film is striving for, but falls on its own a bit when it makes a few miss steps. Palansky, I do believe has captured the tone and atmosphere right but just doesn't follow through with what could make this film very memorable, wink wink. The concept of revisiting past memories that define our character is a key theme to works like, Inside Out, Eternal Sunshine, and Memento, but I believe that Rememory could have been on to something really heart-breaking but engaging as well. One of its flaws is how the film can't decide what it is, whether it wants to be a thriller, or drama. The trailer doesn't help what so ever. I think the film is stronger as an emotional drama about memory and identity, instead of a throw away missed thriller movie. Although the majority of the time it does try to be a mystery thriller, this genre gets lost in the emotional and character depth that the film tip toes on but never really embraces. This leaves a rather messy piece of work.
SO we've got this juggling of genres going on but he one of really issues is the characters. We are surrounded by very 2-D characters apart from Bloom, but his is where the film could be so much good. As Bloom investigates the subjects that were around the victim before he died, this is the perfect opportunity to discover this history and character and what connects them to Dunn. Unfortunately the film completely misses past the opportunity for character development and side lines of lot of good supporting stories. This could provide much emotional weight to the world of the characters and work with the melancholy tone that the film is swimming in. I don't know it anyone recalls the BBC Christmas TV film Lost Christmas (2011) which had a man and boy connecting different people to what they've lost in past Christmases, carrying so much emotional baggage from memories. This is exactly what Rememory could have become but it just wants a lot of different things.
Probably the joy of the film is watching the GOT star Peter Dinklage investigating a murder, instead of drinking wine and advising kings and queens. Dinklage gives a very sporting performance, especially when he engages opposite co-star Julie Ormond, but isn't quit enough on his own to save the film. The rest of the cast however, are doing a very half hearted job, with some poorly delivered lines and rather drowsy scenes. But probably with the lack of identity in the script must make it hard for the actors to work with.
Although I name these issues with the film, (I didn't even mention the rather slow pace) I don't hate this film, because what the film could be striving for, it does eventually reach at a low volume, but enough for this film to not be entirely dismissed. It is a shame though how the potential of the film is so good that it is wasted. But as always that's just my opinion, it is free on Google Play for a limited time, so it won't cost you anything to just see what its like for yourself. 6.0/10
Sam Bloom (Peter Dinklage) becomes determined to solve the murder of "genius" Gordon Dunn (Martin Donovan) the inventor of the "Rememory Machine" a device that allows you to witness your life memories. Meanwhile Bloom struggles with his grief and memories concerning the death of his brother.
Premiering at Sundance with starting 8.9 on IMDb and fantastic unique premise, Rememory looked liked a dream come true, until its recent release in the USA, and free limited viewing period on Google Play, which has lead to very poor reviews. But there is no right opinion just a majority so you never know whether you personally will like it. Well I can say for myself that the film does have so many things wrong with it....but in my book its not entirely terrible.
Written by Michael Vukadinovich, this story has so much potential to be something really meaningful. This is something that the film is striving for, but falls on its own a bit when it makes a few miss steps. Palansky, I do believe has captured the tone and atmosphere right but just doesn't follow through with what could make this film very memorable, wink wink. The concept of revisiting past memories that define our character is a key theme to works like, Inside Out, Eternal Sunshine, and Memento, but I believe that Rememory could have been on to something really heart-breaking but engaging as well. One of its flaws is how the film can't decide what it is, whether it wants to be a thriller, or drama. The trailer doesn't help what so ever. I think the film is stronger as an emotional drama about memory and identity, instead of a throw away missed thriller movie. Although the majority of the time it does try to be a mystery thriller, this genre gets lost in the emotional and character depth that the film tip toes on but never really embraces. This leaves a rather messy piece of work.
SO we've got this juggling of genres going on but he one of really issues is the characters. We are surrounded by very 2-D characters apart from Bloom, but his is where the film could be so much good. As Bloom investigates the subjects that were around the victim before he died, this is the perfect opportunity to discover this history and character and what connects them to Dunn. Unfortunately the film completely misses past the opportunity for character development and side lines of lot of good supporting stories. This could provide much emotional weight to the world of the characters and work with the melancholy tone that the film is swimming in. I don't know it anyone recalls the BBC Christmas TV film Lost Christmas (2011) which had a man and boy connecting different people to what they've lost in past Christmases, carrying so much emotional baggage from memories. This is exactly what Rememory could have become but it just wants a lot of different things.
Probably the joy of the film is watching the GOT star Peter Dinklage investigating a murder, instead of drinking wine and advising kings and queens. Dinklage gives a very sporting performance, especially when he engages opposite co-star Julie Ormond, but isn't quit enough on his own to save the film. The rest of the cast however, are doing a very half hearted job, with some poorly delivered lines and rather drowsy scenes. But probably with the lack of identity in the script must make it hard for the actors to work with.
Although I name these issues with the film, (I didn't even mention the rather slow pace) I don't hate this film, because what the film could be striving for, it does eventually reach at a low volume, but enough for this film to not be entirely dismissed. It is a shame though how the potential of the film is so good that it is wasted. But as always that's just my opinion, it is free on Google Play for a limited time, so it won't cost you anything to just see what its like for yourself. 6.0/10