Reminders of Him Review

Directed By: Vanessa Caswill
Written By: Colleen Hoover and Lauren Levine; Based on the book of the same name by Colleen Hoover
Runtime: 114 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13

Maika Monroe – Kenna Rowan
Tyriq Withers – Ledger Ward
Rudy Pankow – Scotty Landry
Lauren Graham – Grace Landry
Bradley Whitford – Patrick Landry
Lainey Wilson – Amy
Jennifer Robertson – Ruth
Zoe Kosovic – Diem Landry
Monika Myers – Lady Diana

It Ends With Us and Regretting You author takes a more active role in the latest big-screen adaptation of one of her works with Regretting You, a tale about love, loss, and grief, forgiveness, and finding the resilience to live in sadness rather than die in it. Following film adaptations of It Ends With Us and Regretting You, Hoover now adapts one of her works for the big screen for the first time, taking a co-writing credit along with scribe Lauren Levine. But does the romantic drama work on the big screen? Well, it’s not terrible.

Kenna Rowan (Monroe) returns to her hometown of Laramie after serving seven years in the clink for the involuntary manslaughter of her lover, Scotty Landry (Pankow). Additionally, Kenna was unknowingly pregnant with her and Scotty’s child after she was imprisoned, and her child was taken away shortly after birth. Now, several years later, the five-year-old daughter, Diem (Kosovic), lives with Scotty’s parents, Grace (Graham) and Patrick (Whitford).

Kenna’s main motivation for returning home is to finally meet her daughter, although Scotty’s parents still hold her responsible for Scotty’s death. However, fate puts her on the path of the ex-NFL-player-turned-bar-owner, Ledger Ward (Withers), who was also Scotty’s best friend and has taken an active role in Diem’s life, helping care for her.

Not initially recognizing her as the guilty party responsible for his best friend’s death, the sparks fly between Kenna and Ledger after they first meet. However, Ledger eventually realizes the truth after Kenna attempts to visit the Landry unannounced and gets summarily stopped by Ledger.

Recognizing Kenna as deserving of a second chance, Ledger offers her hours at his bar, while also playing buffer between Kenna and the Landrys to avoid any potentially awkward meetings. Unfortunately, they’re navigating a delicate situation where wounds from tragedy have not yet fully healed.

The crux of the movie’s premise is remarkably far-fetched, and it’s equally difficult to buy into the whirlwind romance between Kenna and Ledger, especially due to Ledger’s close relationship with the Landry family, Scotty, and Diem.

The movie’s biggest problem is the existence of Scotty Landry as this tragic figure and the subject of every character’s loss and grief. It’s frequently a problem in stories where characters are mourning the loss of a loved one. Even in the brief scenes where Pankow appears as Scotty, there’s just not enough of a sense of who he is as a person.

The characters all deeply loved him. They say how much they loved him, but the audience never truly sees it. There’s a little bit of his meet-cute with Kenna at the beginning, and some brief flashbacks of the character, but they don’t offer quite enough texture to truly know and understand Scotty. He’s like a mythical unicorn rather than a genuine individual.

As a result, it’s difficult to buy into how close Ledger was to Scotty and still is to his parents and daughter Diem. He literally becomes a surrogate father to Diem and takes an active role in her upbringing despite having no moral responsibility. He’s not her godfather.

Yes, Scotty was Ledger’s childhood friend, and Diem is just a ray of joy and sunshine, but there’s never too much to establish Ledger’s trauma over Scotty’s loss and why he took it upon himself to help raise his late best friend’s daughter.

The plot becomes incredibly convoluted. Kenna and Ledger meet for the first time, not realizing each other’s identities. Even with seven years having passed, there’s no conceivable way Ledger never saw photos, videos, or social media profiles at all regarding Kenna, especially when she was his best friend’s one true love and the woman he wanted to marry.

Yes, the movie establishes that Ledger was away pursuing his dreams in the NFL, but seriously, he would’ve seen photos or had a conversation at some point. Not to mention, he directly contradicts later in the movie, speaking about how she looked like she had no remorse over Scotty’s death after her arrest, during her trial, and sentencing. Then, later in the movie, he mentions that he only ever saw her mug shot. The flimsy setup mainly enables a romantic meet-cute for Kenna and Ledger to enable their eventual romance, and it’s just way too convenient.

In the movie’s favor, it’s nice to see Maika Monroe playing against her usual scream-queen type, and she portrays a decently solid romantic lead. She easily has the strongest performance in the movie, and she’s at least believable in the role despite the far-fetched premise.’

Withers isn’t awful as a romantic lead either, but the movie lacks a strong romantic foundation in his relationship with Kenna. The only thing they really share in common is their love for Scotty, and that’s a very troubling way to start their romantic connection.

Another appealing factor is the warmth and presentation of the setting of Laramie. Director Vanessa Caswill presents Laramie with a surprising charm. It seems a bit dilapidated and rundown at first, but eventually its golden heart shines through. The movie offers a genuine American heartland, blue-collar, working-class style that most major Hollywood movies lack, but the movie still imbues Laramie with a glitzy, cinematic, and romantic sheen. The people of Laramie aren’t perfect, but they’re decent folk for the most part.

Despite the flimsy premise and overly convoluted and contrived developments, the movie does bring things together for a strong emotional conclusion. It’s by no means exceptional, but fans of Hoover’s work will likely be pleased with the results. Overall, Reminds of Him amounts to passable, yet unspectacular, romantic, frothy fare.

Where To Watch Reminders of Him

Reminders of Him arrives in theaters on March 13. Ticket and showtime details are available at the movie’s website.

6.0

The final score: review Average

The 411

Reminders of Him presents somewhat watchable, yet inoffensive, romantic melodrama fare. It's fun and interesting watching Maika Monroe portray the lead in a romantic drama over a heady, psychological, terrifying horror movie, and she does okay, as does co-lead, Tyriq Withers. Despite Hoover taking co-writing credit, the plot setup becomes incredibly flimsy and far-fetched, but director Vanessa Caswill brings some decent charm with the warmth of the setting of Laramie, Wyoming. It's by no means a great movie, but it's a movie where romantic drama and Hoover fanatics will likely enjoy a good night out at the movies.