Directed by Allen Coulter
Written by Will Fetters
I knew nothing of the plot going in, I knew nothing of the plot going out. But I’m not saying that is the worst of things. What Allen Coulter and his colleagues made here is an immensely interesting film. On the technical level it is a good film, but when we start getting into the plot lines, theme, what it was going for I’m not so sure. The story is about two people whose families have faced tragedy in their past. One, a girl named Ally (Emilie de Ravin), and the other, a guy named Tyler (Robert Pattinson) fall in love. Was it meant to be, is their love forbidden. It is hard to tell given the complicated circumstances of their relationship with each other and their relationship with each others families. In essence, the film is a love story, Ally and Tyler’s love story. The love story is a nice one, nothing overly impressive or original, but there are some nice touches put on it; like how Ally eats dessert first for fear of dying before she gets to her one indulgence, or the second date when they end up in a “water gun” fight in essence.
The other players include such veterans as Chris Cooper, who is not given enough to do to consider anything, and Pierce Brosnan, who is given plenty to do in limited screen time and nails every scene. Early on I was thinking to myself, “Robert Pattinson is getting out acted in every scene, even the scene with his kid sister,” who is played by Ruby Jerins, who surprised me with her characterization of this little girl. But this is not to say he gives a bad performance, it is just average and those around him were better. But no one gives a really memorable performance other than Brosnan. Tyler’s roommate, Aidan (Tate Ellington), is the comic relief in the film, and he does a good job. He provides just enough lightness to balance out the weight of the proceedings; he evens succeeds in lightening the heaviest of moments without missing a beat. The look of the film was my favorite thing about it. It was beautifully filmed, with clear thought put into every single shot by first time director Coulter. I was really impressed by the framing, the movement of the camera (and the actors too), and the color at sometimes that is captured on screen.
I tried to leave much of the major plot points out as to not spoil it for anyone that does not even want to know the littlest of detail. But I must comment on the ending in the vaguest of terms at least. There is a mention of something early on in the film that eludes to the ending, but when I was presented with the ending, I thought they had cheated (I must go back and watch the beginning at some point). Despite the beautiful romance, I found myself constantly asking myself, “where is this going; how is this going to end given what they have shown me.” I was not confident they could wrap it up nicely, and I think I was right. If the ending is something that was going to be there the whole time, they could have treated it differently I think. I understand what they were going for, and I appreciate their efforts, but they missed. Too bad, so sad. But overall, the film is interesting and entertaining. At the very least it is a well made film.
Corndog Chats 