A romantic drama centered on two new lovers: Tyler, whose parents have split in the wake of his brother's suicide, and Ally, who lives each day to the fullest since witnessing her mother's murder.

Review

Rebel Without a Cause meets Ordinary People in postmillennial Manhattan, resulting in Hollywoodland director Allen Coulter's Remember Me. Twilight's tousle-haired Robert Pattinson plays Tyler, a chain-smoking New York University student with a substantial chip on his shoulder. Drifting through life devoid of ambition, he lost his older brother to suicide, his parents are divorced, and his father, Charles (Pierce Brosnan), spends more time in the boardroom than with his kids (Lena Olin plays Tyler's mother). Tyler takes refuge in his friendships with wisecracking roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington) and artistic younger sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins). One night, he and Aidan enter a scuffle outside a club, and Sergeant Craig (Chris Cooper) takes him in for mouthing off, even though he was trying to break things up. When Aidan discovers that they go to school with Craig's daughter, Ally (Lost's Emilie de Ravin), he dares his pal to date and dump the Queens coed to get back at Craig. Game for anything, Tyler gives it a try, and Ally takes the bait, but he puts all thoughts of revenge aside when he finds himself falling in love. Ten years before, Ally lost her mother (Martha Plimpton in an unbilled cameo), and she understands him better than most anyone else, but the timing is off, and the events of 9/11 will change the lives of both families forever. The descent toward melodrama at the end threatens to derail Coulter's delicate project, but he sets things right in time to make Remember Me an affecting experience. --Kathleen C. Fennessy