Reminiscence (2021) (1 Viewer)

[benbess]

I think The Prestige is a much better movie in every way....

One pet peeve I had with Reminiscence was the use of cars from the 1970s and 1980s. I don't recall right now that we saw the exact year in which the film is set, but based on the water levels and flooding 2100 might be an okay guess. I understand the film is saying that nostalgia is big, but the idea that there were be spare parts to keep millions of cars from the 1970s and 1980s going took me out of the movie. If these cars were replicas that actually ran on electric power that would make more sense, but that didn't seem to be what was happening. Anyway, it just seemed like a money saver for the film's production that didn't work. Another pet peeve is that all of this water with all of these flooded buildings looked almost pristine. I mean there are buildings with stuff in them slowly being flooded, and yet that water looked almost like it was filtered swimming pool water. Just didn't seem gritty and realistic to me. There were bigger issues in the film, like pacing, editing, and the screenplay itself, but those were two things that sometimes prevented me from getting lost in the world.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

the idea that there were be spare parts to keep millions of cars from the 1970s and 1980s going took me out of the movie.

Well, I know a guy that restores ancient cars (old Model T Fords and such) and when speaking to him I said "Where do you get parts for something like this?" and he said 3D printing. So, that's where they come from. You punch the specs into a machine and it builds the part.

Not saying that will help your enjoyment of the picture but that is a solution to where do you get the parts.

I've not seen this film yet, I want to, just have not had the chance.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Saw this yesterday and thought it was interesting... for a while.

Unfortunately, the film really does come across as a rehash of other themes. It gives off a very Phillip K. Dick vibe and the noir elements lack originality or creativity.

The basic setting seems intriguing, what with the aspects of climate change and the manner in which they impact Miami. However, this aspect of the film ends up as little more than modern social commentary and a gimmick, as the "Miami underwater" thing doesn't really matter in the long run.

Sure, the movie discusses the "barons" and popular unrest, but none of that seems all that relevant for the story the flick tells. We go down a very "Chinatown" path in that regard but this side of the plot could've been anything, really. The involvement of a water-logged Miami doesn't matter beyond production design.

Still, the movie creates an interesting enough world and concept to make it compelling for the first act. The notion of retrievable/"re-experienceable" memories hearkens back to Dick as I noted, but it still offers potential intrigue, so paired with the underwater Miami, the movie seems fairly interesting for a good half-hour or so.

And then the "plot" kicks in and we're stuck in Noir Cliche Limbo. Toss a dart at a noir film and you'll see it represented here, as "Reminiscence" brings nothing new to that table.

I just never found myself interested in Nick's narrative. Did I care about his romance with Mae and whether or not he'd find her? Not really, and all the attempts to broaden the story into the various conspiracies never resonated.

At no point would I call this a bad movie, and the visual design feels striking. However, I just don't think the story goes anywhere compelling, and the characters lack the dimensionality they need to overcome the basic plot cliches.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

BTW, about the ending:

Spoiler

Even if I'd been involved in the movie up to that point, the ending seemed ludicrous. Nick spent the rest of his life in a tub with his memories? Seriously?

Even if we swallow this, how did he stay alive? Who fed him? Nick still looked pretty buff after 30 years of non-activity, didn't he?[/quote]

As a related aside, it occasionally felt like Jackman had a clause in his contract that required him to be shirtless every 15 minutes or so!

Can't blame him - dude looks amazing at any age, but he's 52!

 

[Sam Posten]

Well, I know a guy that restores ancient cars (old Model T Fords and such) and when speaking to him I said "Where do you get parts for something like this?" and he said 3D printing. So, that's where they come from. You punch the specs into a machine and it builds the part.

LOL, no.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

BTW, about the ending:

Spoiler

Even if I'd been involved in the movie up to that point, the ending seemed ludicrous. Nick spent the rest of his life in a tub with his memories? Seriously?

Even if we swallow this, how did he stay alive? Who fed him? Nick still looked pretty buff after 30 years of non-activity, didn't he?

Spoiler

As a related aside, it occasionally felt like Jackman had a clause in his contract that required him to be shirtless every 15 minutes or so!

Can't blame him - dude looks amazing at any age, but he's 52!

[/QUOTE]

Spoiler

Not that it matters, because I agree it wasn’t very compelling anyway, but I think the deal was Jackman was in trouble for frying the other guy’s brain - they said at one point that was a crime punished harsher than murder. On the other hand, Jackman did help the cops solve the crime and I think the voice over had a line about how they made him a deal but he wasn’t getting off. I forget her character’s name but we saw that Thandiwe Newton worked at a place keeping people alive in their memories in a tank, and we see old her with old Jackman at the end, so I assume she was using her professional expertise to keep him alive and in there on her own time. I assumed the deal Jackman got for his crime was that he wasn’t going to be executed or whatever the punishment normally was, but would be allowed to live in his memory. It takes away his freedom like prison would but puts him in a place he wants to be, even if it’s a lie.

But it doesn’t really matter much because none of it resonated with me by that point anyhow.

 

[Josh Dial]

If I look like Hugh Jackman when I'm 52 I'm selling all my shirts.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

If I look like Hugh Jackman when I'm 52 I'm selling all my shirts.

Yeah. I'm only 1.5 years older than Jackman and I think I look pretty good for my age - I weight about 165, have my hair - but damn... a look at Hugh demoralizes me!

 

[TravisR]

I'll be happy if I look better than Hugh Jackman when he's 82.

 

[Jake Lipson]

My local theater is keeping this for a second weekend (probably because they are obligated to do so), but they have scheduled it for only one show per day beginning at 10:10pm.

This makes business sense since obviously it wasn't drawing last week either. I just bring it up because the drastically limited availability will contribute to a week-over-week decline that was already going to be extreme anyway. I've got to admit I'm curious about to see what the drop will be.

It will probably be essentially gone from theaters by the time Shang-Chi opens next week.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

My local theater is keeping this for a second weekend (probably because they are obligated to do so), but they have scheduled it for only one show per day beginning at 10:10pm.

This makes business sense since obviously it wasn't drawing last week either. I just bring it up because the drastically limited availability will contribute to a week-over-week decline that was already going to be extreme anyway. I've got to admit I'm curious about to see what the drop will be.

It will probably be essentially gone from theaters by the time Shang-Chi opens next week.

My local AMC has 22 screens. They're still running "12 Mighty Orphans", which sold 12 mighty tickets and hits BD next week, so they'll probably have "Reminiscence" for a while!

 

[Mark Booth]

While I enjoyed 'Reminiscence', I don't feel the need to ever see it again. Just 3 out of 5 stars from me.

Mark

 

[TonyD]

One pet peeve I had with Reminiscence was the use of cars from the 1970s and 1980s. I don't recall right now that we saw the exact year in which the film is set, but based on the water levels and flooding 2100 might be an okay guess. I understand the film is saying that nostalgia is big, but the idea that there were be spare parts to keep millions of cars from the 1970s and 1980s going took me out of the movie.

Cuba

Anyway I just finished the movie.
Was visually beautiful as was the music but felt it was a tad too long.

Did like the way it wrapped up.

 

[JoeStemme]

Memory and how it plays with the mind has been a common theme in sci-fi cinema and one of the most talked about examples is Westworld which was co-created by Lisa Joy. These memories can be real, implanted or manipulated. Here, Writer-Director Joy melds those notions with a noir vision (memory also has a long history within the noir canon).

REMINSCENCE has a jaded ex-soldier Nick (Hugh Jackman) as a businessman who facilitates customers to re-experience their memories in a sort of virtual reality sphere of the mind. His assistant is an ex-military buddy, Emily (Thandie Newton). The set-up is fairly quick but then meanders for much of the first act. Jackman is too low key -- add in Newton's bored demeanor and it starts to get lethargic.

Things pick up a bit with as Nick takes up with one of his clients, the alluring and mysterious Mae (Rebecca Ferguson). An obvious femme fatale to everyone but Nick. The harvesting of memories isn't a new concept, and, at times one wonders why its even necessary as the basic plot gimmick could work just about as well by replacing the memory machine with hypnosis or truth serum. But, of course, that wouldn't lend itself to special effects which are often sharp looking but sometimes the over-bright daytime CGI resembles the dream projections. There is some visual panache and the world building with puddles. floods and social strife is interesting if incompletely realized. The future noir BLADE RUNNER allusions are frequent and not disguised, and there are bits of MINORITY REPORT, BRAINSTORM and any number of classic noirs; And, of course, Joy's own Westworld.

Derivative plot points aside, Joy's script relies on a twist that is not only easily guessed, but, is explicitly telegraphed a full half hour prior. Again, the only one who is fooled is Jackman's Nick -- and, by extension, the filmmakers themselves. Jackman can be a charismatic actor, but, his burned out Nick displays little of that. Buried in the morass is a decent subplot involving a secondary character, an older woman who is tied to a crime that Mae is involved with. The woman has fully fallen into a world where her memories of youth have completely taken over her benighted soul. If only there were more such explorations in REMINSCENCE rather than just this pallid attempt