Reminiscence

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Netwon, Cliff Curtis, Marina de Tavira, Daniel Wu, Mojean Aria, Brett Cullen, Angela Sarafyan
Directed by: Lisa Joy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An investigator (Hugh Jackman) who specializes in diving into people's memories becomes obsessed with tracking down a woman (Rebecca Ferguson) who mysteriously vanishes from his life.

Review:

Tim: I felt like Lisa Joy's Reminiscence reminded me a lot of 2014's Transcendence. They were both intellectual, heady science fiction movies with complicated titles. Neither of them lived up to their promise. While this movie is much better than that terrible Johnny Depp film, it's still a disappointment. I've enjoyed what Lisa Joy has done on the Westworld television series, but her good work there doesn't quite translate here.

It's actually a little hard for me to describe what went wrong here. Joy plays with some interesting concepts and they assembled a strong cast for this film. The problem is definitely with her script. The movie feels like it's mostly on the surface. There's a lot of exposition. Everything we see feels like it checks the requisite intellectual boxes, but it feels devoid of real emotion. This is strange, because emotion fuels our main character's journey. The whole film, the entire plot is based on strong emotions that the characters feel. Unfortunately, the audience doesn't feel them. Joy might be good at playing with intellectual ideas, but she isn't able to bring real emotion to the forefront. The film feels oddly sterile. I don't think I ever disliked the movie, but I never cared about it, either. This is where the film falls down the hardest.

The story is interesting, but it ultimately feels smaller than it needed to. The idea of viewing someone's memory is an intriguing one. I can't say the movie had a lot of novel ideas, but they are worth pursuing. Some of the issues are illogical ones- I still don't believe that you would see someone's memories from a third person perspective. You can suggest whatever explanation you want, memories are 100% from your point of view. That doesn't make for compelling visuals for the story, so let's throw that idea out. That aspect of the film is cool, but it's never fully realized. It feels like just a plot device to tell a basic story that we've seen before (and told much better elsewhere).

Some of the issues come from the fact that we don't really feel much of a connection between the main characters. It's never bad, but it never feels genuine or authentic. Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson are both really good actors whom I like quite a bit. They gave good performances. It's just that their love story never quite connects. Jackman is strong in the lead role and we like his character. His descent into obsession feels a bit rushed, though. Ferguson is good as well, playing the mysterious woman who makes a connection with Jackson well. I enjoyed watching them together, but never felt much about their characters or their relationship. This becomes problematic when Jackson's character goes on his increasingly dangerous journey to find out what happened to her. There's this little nagging feeling of, "Just let it go, man" throughout the whole film.

Thandiwe Newton was one of the better parts of the movie. She and Jackson had at least some chemistry and Newton felt comfortable in this role. Maybe it was the familiarity with Joy's style, but Newton worked really well. I like Cliff Curtis as well and thought he worked well in his smaller supporting role. The cast was quite good all in all.

Ultimately, Reminiscence is a decent movie, but an utterly forgettable one. That's a bit ironic for a film so focused on memories- my memories about this movie will quickly fade and it'll become harder and harder to recall anything about this film. The disappointment comes when you think about the talent involved here. Joy did exceptional work on Westworld (including directing one episode). She seems talented, but her feature film directorial debut goes nowhere. She brought Jackman, Ferguson, Newton, and Curtis together... and this was the result? There's no reason for this movie to not be much, much better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Transcendence, Westworld (television series), The Fountain