One fire extinguisher through a school's glass window. One fight with a jaded New York cop. One yelling-argument with Dad over his Fortune 500-esque board meeting.
In the "New Moon" it was wolf-hormonal Taylor Lautner acting like the temperamental wildman who could flip at the slightest push. But the malaise seemingly has been passed on to the previously sensible "New Moon" co-star Robert Pattinson in his much awaited movie venture, "Remember Me."
Pattinson's character has his reasons. Tyler Hawkins is still grieving hard over his older brother's suicide and dealing with the permafrost put off by his big-business father (Pierce Brosnan) -- the man Hawkins feels pushed his brother to suicide.
But Pattinson's James Dean-esque rebel rantings are frequently just too much. You can accept Hawkins being content to do nothing but shelves books in a library and slumming it in a cramped New York apartment while daddy works in the plushest of high rise offices. The other stuff is more than a bit emotionally loud.
It's the cop-fight which truly triggers the plot. Sgt. Neil Craig (Chris Cooper) gives Hawkins a well-deserved beating and sends him to jail when the kid pushes him in an argument. Rather than feeling chagrin, Hawkins works a plan to enact revenge on the cop by working his charm on the officer's daughter (Emilie de Ravin).
Not surprisingly, Pattinson falls in love with his beautiful chess piece who is also scarred with the devastating loss of a loved one. Soon they're doing silly love things like pouring spaghetti on each other and having kitchen water fights.
The most best chemistry in the movie comes when Pattinson is working with young Ruby Jerins, who plays his younger sister. Never too corny or too precocious, there is something about the 11-year-old actress pulls the best out of Pattinson. Their scenes together show a real emotional truth that's missing in much of the movie.
"Remember Me" does work in one doozy of an ambitious twist. But for the most part, it's a generic love story starring America's Hottest Heart-throb, who has never been lit better (even with a sometimes battered face). This movie should only truly be recommended for Pattinson fanatics only.
