Reminiscence (C+ or 2/4 stars)
'Reminiscence' (directed by Lisa Joy, of Westworld) is a film noir thriller set in a futuristic Miami where catastrophic climate change has left the city mostly underwater, except for the rich, corrupt "barons" who live inland. Most people live nocturnally {a neon-light existence}, since it is now blisteringly hot during the day. One of the few ways people entertain themselves is by using a technology initially-employed by the military for interrogation purposes. Reminiscence, run by war vet Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman), lets users re-live a pre-selected memory; Nick aurally guides them through their chosen moment. He & his assistant/friend, Watts (Thandiwe Newton), help clients re-unite with friends, family, lovers & pets from some prior time.
When beautiful & mysterious nightclub singer Mae (Rebecca Ferguson) enters Nick's establishment to jog her memory about a lost set of keys, he is enraptured by her & they start a whirlwind romance. However, Nick is befuddled when, after a few months, Mae ... disappears. Hell bent on figuring out what happened to her, he abuses the Reminiscence memory machine until his side job {doing interrogations for detectives & the D.A.'s office} turns up a memory of Mae in the dark minds of drug kingpin, Saint Joe (Daniel Wu) & his right-hand man/crooked cop, Cyrus (Cliff Curtis). Stunned, that sets in motion Nick's journey into the seedy criminal underworld to find answers about Mae; who may not have been the woman he thought she was.
Writer/director Lisa Joy's directorial debut is VERY similar to her work in Westworld; showing several of the same cast members, as well as her taste for dark, depressing worlds populated by broken-down characters. Hugh Jackman is a compelling actor and, I bought him as a world-weary man who gets off on guiding his customers through their cherished memories. Rebecca Ferguson, who acted opposite Jackman in The Greatest Showman, transfixes once again; playing a femme fatale character who uses her Jessica Rabbit-like looks & singing voice to seduce. I love these two, but I think they exhibited better chemistry in The Greatest Showman. Thandiwe Newton lends a nuanced & much-needed sarcastically humorous {for levity} performance here; though, her character is squarely supporting & she is underused. Other notable components of this film would be the choreographed action scenes {fairly well-done, one including the song "Tainted Love"} & the futuristic set design - very cool - aided by some excellent visual effects.
But while the film looks good & imbues themes of hope & redemption, it is also derivative of so many other "like" noir classics: Chinatown, Blade Runner, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, Inception, the list goes on ... and it is not as good as any of them. Joy's world-building is intriguing, but many plot points are left unexplored: the border wars, addiction to memories, etc. Simply put, the plot is just too hum-drum, too convoluted & tonally uneven {perhaps a rumored post-production 21 min. cut led to the mish-mashed product we got}. 'Reminiscence' also needed a jolt to go along with the effectively melancholy portrayals. And like I said before, more desperation & passion should've been exhibited by the two lead characters to truly care about what happens in the end. Part sci-fi/gumshoe detective/disaster flick ... it just doesn't quite work; despite my enjoying its particulars.
When beautiful & mysterious nightclub singer Mae (Rebecca Ferguson) enters Nick's establishment to jog her memory about a lost set of keys, he is enraptured by her & they start a whirlwind romance. However, Nick is befuddled when, after a few months, Mae ... disappears. Hell bent on figuring out what happened to her, he abuses the Reminiscence memory machine until his side job {doing interrogations for detectives & the D.A.'s office} turns up a memory of Mae in the dark minds of drug kingpin, Saint Joe (Daniel Wu) & his right-hand man/crooked cop, Cyrus (Cliff Curtis). Stunned, that sets in motion Nick's journey into the seedy criminal underworld to find answers about Mae; who may not have been the woman he thought she was.
Writer/director Lisa Joy's directorial debut is VERY similar to her work in Westworld; showing several of the same cast members, as well as her taste for dark, depressing worlds populated by broken-down characters. Hugh Jackman is a compelling actor and, I bought him as a world-weary man who gets off on guiding his customers through their cherished memories. Rebecca Ferguson, who acted opposite Jackman in The Greatest Showman, transfixes once again; playing a femme fatale character who uses her Jessica Rabbit-like looks & singing voice to seduce. I love these two, but I think they exhibited better chemistry in The Greatest Showman. Thandiwe Newton lends a nuanced & much-needed sarcastically humorous {for levity} performance here; though, her character is squarely supporting & she is underused. Other notable components of this film would be the choreographed action scenes {fairly well-done, one including the song "Tainted Love"} & the futuristic set design - very cool - aided by some excellent visual effects.
But while the film looks good & imbues themes of hope & redemption, it is also derivative of so many other "like" noir classics: Chinatown, Blade Runner, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, Inception, the list goes on ... and it is not as good as any of them. Joy's world-building is intriguing, but many plot points are left unexplored: the border wars, addiction to memories, etc. Simply put, the plot is just too hum-drum, too convoluted & tonally uneven {perhaps a rumored post-production 21 min. cut led to the mish-mashed product we got}. 'Reminiscence' also needed a jolt to go along with the effectively melancholy portrayals. And like I said before, more desperation & passion should've been exhibited by the two lead characters to truly care about what happens in the end. Part sci-fi/gumshoe detective/disaster flick ... it just doesn't quite work; despite my enjoying its particulars.