6 minute read
Film
Reminiscence
Reminiscence is a sci-fi tinged neo-noir. The most interesting elements of the futuristic dystopia it depicts however are drowned out by a romance that – despite the mutual hotness of the paramours – simply doesn’t hold water.
Hugh Jackman stars as Nick Bannister, styled like a grizzled, regretful private investigator of yore. But get this: He isn’t just some regular PI – he’s a PI of the mind. Yes, in this not-sodistant future, somehow Jackman’s character seems to be the sole proprietor of a machine that projects people’s memories for viewing while also allowing the person relive these moments like a virtual reality experience. And given the current state of affairs in the film’s world, people have plenty of good reasons to want to escape to these nostalgic pleasure trips. Set in a Miami where most of the city is now under water due to the effects of climate change, only the extremely wealthy can afford to live on dry land, walled off in elite enclaves separated by massive dams. It’s also too hot during the day, so society has switched to existing at night. Plus, there are other intriguing mentions of dystopian fodder like the unexplained border wars Nick is a veteran of.
Director Lisa Joy (Westworld) has constructed a fascinating world, but it is mere set dressing for a tired psychosexual love story of obsession as Rebecca Ferguson’s mysterious Mae walks into Nick’s life and turns it upside down. After she suddenly disappears, he’s haunted by her memory, but the film is haunted by the ghosts of the better movies it is reminiscent of.
Reminiscence is basically Minority Report in reverse, or a Waterworld-themed version of Blade Runner. Even just watching the film’s trailer, I thought the film looked like a rip-off of Inception, and that was BEFORE I found out the director is Christopher Nolan’s sister-in-law.
This is noir 101. Ferguson’s Mae is a femme fatale writ large, a nightclub singer (like that’s still even an actual job) who sings old Rogers and Hart torch songs in a slinky red dress and is clearly not who she appears to be. But after only a rather brief relationship, she is all Nick can think about, even breaking the number one rule of being a PI of the mind and using his memory machine. Somehow the pairing of Ferguson and Jackman lacks even the spark they had together in the PGrated The Greatest Showman. Perhaps it is because Jackman’s character is forced to deliver such a hackneyed narration that even Bogart would sound ridiculous. I mean we’re talking such nuggets of philosophizing silliness like, “Memory is the boat that sails against its current,” or better yet, “Memories are like perfume. Better in small doses.” And this narration is a near-constant fixture of the story telling, explaining every little thing, yet somehow also making no sense of the convoluted plot. In addition to Mae’s disappearance, we have Nick consulting with the district attorney on the impending trial of a land baron (Brett Cullen), whose mistress and scheming son are also swirling in Nick’s orbit. And so Nick’s search leads us deep into the criminal underbelly of Miami. There are actually some pretty decent action scenes, featuring stellar combat choreography, but you might not be exactly sure how the drug czar and crooked cop Nick fights with relate to the mystery other than being the easiest and most reliable tropes. The quality of the action set pieces also speaks to just how polished the film is. Stylish and slick, it is very expensivelooking. Someone put up some serious money to produce this; there is high level of craftsmanship behind the picture. It’s like they felt the need to bring the plot to a certain level of complexity to match the visuals, only to leave the audience to discover that most of what you see in the film is a distraction. Turns out the story was never as complex as it tried to seem despite dragging in mentions of the ancient legend of Orpheus and Eurydice as though it would give the film some kind of added metaphorical significance. Reminiscence is built upon some incredibly compelling themes, especially when it comes the nature of memory and the drug-like appeal of nostalgia. But the film squanders these opportunities to have anything remotely interesting to say beyond Jackman’s painfully poetic insights (“The past can haunt a man. That’s what they say.”) It is safe to say for the viewer, however, that seeing this film is definitely not a memory you will want to revisit. Meg Weichman is a film archivist, film programmer, and serious film person. Find her on Letterboxd (@ckdexterhaven3) rewatching Armageddon and trying to convince people that Temple of Doom is the best Indiana Jones movie.
The MICHIGAN HEMINGWAY SOCIETY
The Society promotes education about Michigan’s influence on Ernest Hemingway’s life and works, especially his Nick Adams stories.
The annual Hemingway Weekend Conference this year will be October. 1-3, 2021 at the Terrace Inn in Petoskey, MI, focusing on “Hemingway and the Indians.” Join us for a fun and enlightening weekend. Conference activities will include fellowship with speakers, dinners, exhibits, and tours of Northern Michigan sites where the Nobel Prize-winning author spent his boyhood summers.
See details at: www.MichiganHemingwaySociety.org
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