By Rachel Lutz, Staff Writer

Robert Pattinson’s new flick “Remember Me” is a surprisingly dark, compelling and moving story of a boy and a girl spending the summer falling in love in New York City. It had a phenomenal storyline, decent acting from all angles and gigantic plot twists that I didn’t see coming.

I’m not going to give it all away, but to put it simply – if you were paying attention in the beginning, you know how it ends. The story is more intricate than expected, with twists and turns.  From the previews, you’d never know that Emilie de Ravin’s character, Ally Craig, was present for her mother’s murder. You don’t realize that Pattinson’s character, Tyler Hawkins, has a deceased older brother (Michael), eleven-year-old sister (Caroline), or a mean streak that lands him in more than one violent fight with Ally’s father. 

There were scenes when he obviously was falling for Ally, where he was furious and when he felt bad for his actions- like smoking, for example. Throughout the movie, it was a recurring theme to see him smoking in front of his younger sister and his parents, although he promised repeatedly that this was his last one ever. It was a far cry from the way he is usually viewed on the big screen: his mumbling, sparkling, vampire self. 

Emilie de Ravin also showed a great deal of acting skill. There wasn’t as much as a range of emotions for her character, but she put into it what she could.  Her past was filled with hurt, and she seemed to carry that around through the movie well. Ally Craig could forget about the pain for a little while, but it was always tailing her like a shadow, ready to rear its ugly head.

Pattinson’s and de Ravin’s chemistry was very believable. It was warm at times, and after two too-long sex scenes, the audience started to get the idea of how passionate their love was- for being based on a childish revenge plot, that is.  Ally got along well with Aiden, Tyler’s roommate, as well.  Ally’s relationship with Caroline, the younger sister, was also genuine. She made an attempt to really impress the family- getting along with the mother by washing dishes, accompanying the family to Caroline’s art show, and generally being a likeable character.

My personal experience seeing the movie wasn’t an entirely enjoyable one; thankfully the movie was good.  A few times, the screen blacked out, so only the audio was available.  The only thing that I missed out on was sweeping scenes of New York City, so I don’t feel really that cheated.  Luckily for the audience at that particular showing, our money was refunded.

The movie was exceedingly dark and filled with hurt and pain, for something that was intending to draw in the teen crowd. The baggage that the cast carries around shows through in their acting. Overall, it was a great movie that I’ll definitely add to my collection once it comes out.  Despite the darkness, the love story is a powerful one whose plot twists will blow you away.

Robert Pattinson and Emile de Ravin star as two love struck young adults with emotional baggage in “Remember Me.” (Photo Source rememberme-movie.com)