All About Remember Me
The summer preceding September 11, 2001 is looked upon as a time of innocence for all Americans. It is here where the romantic drama REMEMBER ME lives. Honest and gripping, the film stars Robert Pattinson (Tyler) as a rebellious NYU student wrestling with his beliefs about life and love and the realities and complexities of life itself. This becomes evident in his contentious relationship with his father (Pierce Brosnan) and the unexpected comfort he finds in love interest, Emilie de Ravin, (Ally) a girl he meets through a crass bet he makes with a friend.
Pattinson brings to the role a tough exterior, a sincere emotional depth and a spirit of defiance that comes when a young man tries to move out from under his father’s shadow, while at the same time, trying to connect with him. Soon after the film’s opening, it is revealed that both Pattinson’s and de Ravin’s characters have each experienced a profound loss, a loss which draws them together.
As the story develops, we are given a window into their family lives through stellar turns from Brosnan, Lena Olin, Ruby Jerins and Chris Cooper. In each family, it is clear that loss has changed the dynamic- bringing some members closer, while driving others apart. Throughout it all, REMEMBER ME remains an unforgettable story of the power of love, the strength of family, and the importance of treasuring every day of one’s life.
Describing the film and its author, director Allen Coulter says: “Will Fetters wrote an incredibly touching script. In its simplest form, REMEMBER ME is the story of two young people, both with a tragedy in their past, and the love that grows between these two. He’s from a wealthy family, she’s from a blue-collar family and they both share this unspoken and unrecognized bond, which emerges as they get to know each other. It’s filled with all kinds of humor and poignancy–such a rich tapestry. It’s a very beautiful love story.”
“The movie is about love and loss,” offers producer Nick Osborne. “It’s about trying to figure out one’s life and why certain events occur and maybe not coming up with the answers, but approaching an answer.”
“I think these are questions we all deal with till the end of our days but especially in our early twenties.” Robert Pattinson describes his character, Tyler Hawkins, who, in the aftermath of losing his brother is “a young guy who’s a little bit lost. He has very wealthy parents, but he’s very self-righteous, and a bit of a waster. He has an attitude, which a lot of twenty-one year old guys have, where they think they know better than everyone else, but don’t feel the need to prove it in any way whatsoever. And he eventually meets this girl who shows him, in a roundabout kind of way, how to mature.”
“It’s not your typical love story,” says Emilie de Ravin (Ally Craig). “These two characters, Tyler and Ally, meet each other in unusual circumstances and they’ve both had very traumatic pasts. Their relationship is so beautifully formed and so realistic, and the movie revolves around that. It goes deep into how people really feel about each other, and the reality of, not just the fluff of relationships, but really what goes on.”
Finding the Script
Osborne recalls, “It was four years ago that Trevor Engelson read the script. Trevor said, ‘I think there may be something here. You should read it.’ And so I read it. Will Fetters’ first draft blew me away. I was utterly moved by it and I called Trevor and I said, ‘We have to make this movie.’
“We took it around to a lot of financiers,” he says, “we took it to one actor who wanted to do it, who then fell out. And then at some point I got it to Allen Coulter. And Allen and I worked on it with Will for a while. Then Rob came on board, which really helped. It was just before Twilight though, so it was bizarre. He read the script before he really had any, I suppose, ‘juice’ or real name recognition within the industry.”
Producer Nick Osborne describes what REMEMBER ME screenwriter Will Fetters meant to the production, saying, “Without Will, we have nothing. He thought of this story and where it was going, and when Allen, Rob and I read it initially, we all felt that this is something we’re going to commit to and we’re going to stick with. Because it’s not easy getting movies made in Hollywood nowadays, and it’s definitely not easy getting dramas made. Dramas are the hardest of all.”
“What’s interesting is that Will was Tyler when he wrote the script. He was this young, angry guy wanting to make something of himself in the world. But he didn’t know how to do it and how to get there. And he had all these deep thoughts and all this kind of angst… I think what comes out of Tyler Hawkins is Will during that time. And that’s why it feels authentic.
All the major preliminary aspects of the production fell together based on the strength of the script. Says Osborne, “What Will brought to this is a testament to the writing on this script. Because we got the actors we wanted, we got the director we wanted, and we’ve built off that. We have a phenomenal film.”
Pierce Brosnan says the script provides a great role for an actor to play, and attests that, “Will Fetters created dimensional characters and emotional characters caught in the conflict of life. And when you get to the end of it, it really just punches you in the gut. I’m very grateful for this role. I’m at a place in my career now where I can go off and do anything I want. This is a really, really good role in the hands of a really fine director and an ensemble cast which is so well matched to their parts,” he adds.
Allen Coulter reflects, “Everyone who read the script, virtually to a person, was moved by it and drawn to it. It’s all because Will Fetters had this inspiration. When I signed on to do it, the only thing that I really wanted was to continue to push for the story to be as truthful as I knew how to make it.”
“For instance, as a New Yorker I felt I needed to address the very small things that you have to be New Yorker to know, whether it has to do with character, location or just some kind of atmosphere. This was not something that Will could know because he’s not from here,” he points out.
Remember Me (2010)
Directed by: Allen Coulter
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Chris Cooper, Lena Olin, Pierce Brosnan, Athena Currey, Tate Ellington, Ruby Jerins, Angela Pietropinto, Moisés Acevedo, Noel Rodriguez, Caitlyn Rund
Screenplay by: Will Fetters, Jenny Lumet
Production Design by: Scott P. Murphy
Cinematography by: Jonathan Freeman
Film Editing by: Andrew Mondshein
Costume Design by: Susan Lyall
Set Decoration by: Diane Lederman
Music by: Marcelo Zarvos
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, sexual content, language and smoking.
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: March 12, 2010
