So boring and unoriginal. Huge waste of time.
Huge Jackman monologues too much. Way way way too much… it’s like going to therapy… will try to play it on sleepless nights to help with sleep. Huge’s deep deep sexy voice is really good got that.
very boring. not very interesting just boring, and honestly a waste of time
Clearly destined to be an underrated, under appreciated masterpiece by Lisa Joy, who clearly understands film noir better than most directors working today.
Even my huge crush on Rebecca Ferguson couldn't keep me interested in this. It starts off as a cheap HBO intro from the 90s as well. Put a bit more effort into the CG of the opening shot to make me take you seriously. Boringgggg and I see the contrarian fans will tout it as misunderstood. Yawn.
One of the producers on this film is Jonathan Nolan; brother and sometimes collaborator with his brother Christopher Nolan. And although he's not been given any screen credit for the script on this movie it; I'm betting that his marriage to the film director Lisa Joy allowed both Jonathan and Christopher Considerable input to the script development and the eventual shape of the finished project. (From this point forward there are some mild spoilers.)
Like most Nolan films this movie deals with time shifting and memories. Hugh Jackman runs a memory clinic in the futuristic sunken/water logged Miami. He and his Army Buddy (Thandiwe Newton) help their customers do everything from find lost keys to reliving the actual feeling of being held in the arms of their lover. The technology is amazing and allows Jackman & Newton to guide their customer through the catacombs of memories in their mind and view it as a 3D representation and record a legal document for posterity. They are licensed by the state and also are called upon by local prosecutors to recover memories that could prove the guilt or innocence of criminal suspects.
Against this backdrop Rebecca Ferguson plays a fem-fatale who's featured presence in the movie is all too short. She drop's into Jackman's life; he falls for her and the she's gone as quick as she appeared. Leading him to spend the rest of the film try to find her. For me this is where the movie began to go off the rails. The hunt begins a series of disjointed sequences -- including;
1). clients recorded memory sequence.
2). encounters with leads generated thru from scrubbed memories sequences.
3). leads generated from leads, leading to leads... etc.
You best be paying rapt attention here because the story pacing is breakneck speed.
To say the least Rebecca Ferguson's character is not what Jackman thought.
Jackman's fixation on her isn't healthy, but he can't help himself.
Thandiwe Newton's character could have used more development, but she did very well with little time that was allowed to her.
The very end of the movie tried to be both innovative and sentimental... but somehow seemed trite and fell flat; in keeping with the movie as a whole.
Climate change Max Payne; Reminiscence has all the trappings of a modern neo-noir mystery with a Blade Runner aesthetic and a cakey, corny romance to boot. Many seem to struggle with the slow, somewhat bloated introduction, but after the stage is set and the breadcrumbs start getting laid down, this becomes a decent mystery thriller with a well told story and a satisfying conclusion. Just be sure you can stomach the corny dialogue between Jackman and Ferguson; it's thick and extensive, singlehandedly bringing this down from an 8 to a 7 for me, but that might be because I don't enjoy that trope of noir movies at the best of times. I really did love the aesthetic and world building though, the cities flooded with Venice-style transport between districts, the literal divide now present between the classes, the neon signs and lights. Lovely stuff, just not enough to wash away all the cheese.
I do not understand why this movie is being so universally panned. I loved everything about it, even if it's not the most unique story of all time. I felt like the casting was absolutely perfect. Rebecca Ferguson took my breath away almost every single second she was on screen. Hugh Jackman effectively portrayed an intelligent technologist and expert who betrays his own instincts about the capabilities and consequences of the technology. The music was awesome, especially Rebecca's singing and the way that it is eventually woven into the plot. The noir-like overlay of the narration was awesome. The environment was unique, intriguing, and believable. The slow-rolling unravelling of the mystery seemed to be perfectly paced for me. I was so busy taking in all of the details of each scene that it never really felt slow to me in the way that others are criticizing it for.
I loved this movie.
Not so bad. I got bored somewhere at the middle but it got better towards the end.
Every single film-noir cliche is in this movie. If you're familiar with the genre, you'll immediately recognize and predict every story beat.
The majority of Nick's monologues was used as opportunities to soapbox about climate change, socioeconomical inequality and segregation, instead of how he views himself living in that world.
Hugh Jack(ed)man was completely wrong for the part IMO, both physically and with his performance. I just didn't buy the whole "PTSD-riddled, handicapped veteran, working as a smooth-talking, empathic hypnotist, in a black suit" package when he plays him so blandly. Was the role supposed to go to Keanu Reeves? Because the character is 80% Constantine already and Keanu would've done a better job. He also looked so out-of-place compared to how everyone else was dressed and behaved. And how the hell does he stay so jacked if he's supposed to sleep all-day and work with clients or "reminisce" all-night? At least write him as a fitness junkie that swims for hours every day, while monologuing. That would've also tied-in with the overabundance of underwater scenes.
The use of a literary reference, in this case of Orpheus & Eurydice, as well as the use of a motto ("don't look back"), is so characteristic of Joy's writing, it almost becomes cringe-inducing. However, I was annoyed that she switched Hades/Pluto for "the Devil"...
While shooting for high-concept, trying to hit climate change, wealth inequality, racism, segregation, mystery, and romance beats: It falls flat on its face. They are trying to do so much that no particular aspect is ever fully brought to the fore.
It's a mess of ideas cobbled together, and every time you hear some fanciful dialogue or narration it's undercut by the actual scenes and plot points happening on screen.
It feels like the they pulled out random pages of a book to make a screen play. One interesting bit of world building is later ignored, one detail obviously conflicting with another so they mystery has no life to it.
This script needed someone to boil it down and shore it up into an impactful and logically consistent tale.
Rebecca Ferguson is gorgeous in this movie. The chemistry between her and Hugh Jackman makes the story work. It is a science fiction romance. I found it to be a bit slow in certain parts. However, overall, it is a very enjoyable movie.
pros:
- the cast
- Hugh Jackman's voice
cons:
- everything else
So close. While watching the film and getting into the chase aspect of the story, it felt so close. Every impact fell just a little short, every moment of anger or of sadness didn't feel as angry or sad as it needed to. Honestly, it felt like a story a grandparent would tell their grandchildren - it's interesting but it doesn't mean anything to the audience, it only means something for the storyteller - because it's their memory. This whole story is very important to Nick, but to us it isn't impactful enough. I liked watching the movie, every scene felt well thought out and I didn't really foresee the ending - so that's good. The film in it's camerawork, the acting, and pacing, and all that technical detail to put the story together was done well. Especially how small details and hints from throughout the movie all made it to the end and made for a connected and reasonable ending with the mystery narrative. As for the Nick's story, I guess it meant to be bittersweet, and I'm okay with that. They feel bad but life doesn't always have a sweet ending for us. Additionally with Nick, I think that his character had good development. We got to see small parts of his character come out as the story moved forward (like his ability to discern when not to shoot a gun to disable a criminal & his anger becoming the better of him due to betrayal/love) and he did change from the beginning to the end. The only thing that bothered me about him is that it is touted that he is an established army vet - yet he can't fight? He gets taken down so quick it was a little unbelievable. Even Hugh Jackman would've done better in these fights than the character he is playing. So, the main concern I had with this, and is why so many people were bored with the film, is that it didn't hit hard enough when it needed to. Honestly, if this was cut and extended as a 6 piece series, I think it could've done better. What bothers me is that 1, Lisa Joy is a pretty good writer and she did great in Westworld so it's not that she can't write a good story; I think she can but wrote one that wasn't meant for a movie format and 2, it doesn't have the entertainment value it should've because I think it was written for an audience that "isn't smart" - which is an error because the audience is usually smart enough to connect the dots. A lot of the story was very careful but I think with more risk, there would be more reward in that the audience would craft the story in their mind more and in via the memory machine. I really think this was a good story that needed to be delivered better - but (and this is not an excuse) this is Lisa Joy's first venture as a solo director/writer and it wasn't bad. Definitely can get better from here. I would recommend this movie to fans of sci-fi, cyberpunk, dystopia genres and to ones who are perceptive of cinematic details as they would probably enjoy the efforts made for this film over the entertainment it has difficulty bringing to the table. Honestly, could use a little less world building a more story building.
An intriguing premise that was quite interestingly explored and explained.
However, I’m more curious about how the world became dystopian and the effects the waves had on people in that moment. Show me more of the world falling apart!
I don't know if we all watched the exact movie I did, but I have ADHD-PI and I enjoyed every little beautiful moment of it. The voice and acting of Hugh Jackman, another side of him that is. The cinematography, combination of future and present.
And that obsessive voice. This was a movie centered around cinematography and Hugh Jackman for sure, but it was done remarkably well.
I went there expecting nothing just to be bored, but happy boy be with by boyfriend and BFF, but found myself attracted to it more than I could've ever expected and more than I was ever attracted by one of the kickass Avengers series (there, said it). If you don't find clichés over there, let met know where you see them.
It will be short review as there is nothing much to write about. It's long, boring, stupid behavior of main characters with no originality. We have already seen it everything in other movies. The plot is as straight as it can be with no surprises. I still don't understand how Huge and Rebecca could take those roles to act here. Really really bad.
An interesting film noir with a sci-fi twist. Enjoyable but a little convoluted in places. Not a classic but it shouldn't be dismissed because of the poor ratings some have given it.
Extremely vague. Could have been so much more, maybe.
Film noir aesthetics for this futuristic thriller.
Movie wasn't a predictable plot, and there were constant changes throughout the story along the way to throw off the audience. The story here is well-written and well paced. Really kept me on the edge of me seat until the end. Also the genre is interesting its scifi mixed with film noir atmosphere. One of my favorite genres! The actors performed also really well. Recommended.
This movie is really boring. At the 15 minute mark when I turned it off, they were still on the thrilling journey of finding a woman's missing keys.
But wait.... I put it back on thinking maybe it gets better. What happened? Hugh Jackman went home after work, had a drink, and started looking through a notebook!
I wanted this film to be great. Hugh Jackman, WESTWORLD producers and borrowed cast, romance, SciFi l, what could go wrong? Well… it was not any of those pieces that failed but I found the movie over long which caused the pace to lag and my attention to wander and then the writers flubbed the dismount (to use a gymnastic metaphor) - the ending was all over the place. With its BLADE RUNNER vibe, this could have been an 8 (great) or a 9 (superb), but I’m going to give this film a 7 (good) out of 10. [SciFi Romantic Mystery]
Liked the sentiment behind it.
This is a love story not a thriller.
The two leads make this uneven movie work, kind of.
Mix of genres that are all recognizable in a kind of futuristic and environmentalist film noir, but which is impaired by the constant use of clichés. Ideas flow, but it does not find the right way to be represented. All that remains is a bland investigation brought on by an unbelievable love obsession.
The movie was barely "meh." :confused:
i'm not gonna lie, my favorite things about this movie are thandiwe newton, daniel wu and whatever song starts with the end credits. and the setting. god, i love dystopian misery.
if you like future mysteries and thrillers this is the sci-fi for you. it gave me a lot of altered carbon season 1 vibes, particularly in terms of socioeconomic divide.
Interesting premise; watched it when very tired and frankly napped a bit. But saw enough that it will watch this another time.
Rebecca Ferguson is a interesting choice for a fem-fatale. It's Jackman at his type-casting best.
This movie has so much going for it. Written, directed and produced by Lisa Joy (creator of Westworld). Also produced by her husband Jonathan Nolan (brother and collaborator of Christopher Nolan). A trio of incredible leads in Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson and Thandiwe Newton. A score by Ramin Djawadi.
So how is the result so unremarkable?
Reminiscence is a very basic neo-noir story with some sci-fi trappings. Some intriguing imagery and interesting concepts can't make up for a severely underbaked screenplay.
The flooded cities and the fact that they can't go out during the day are interesting premises whose implications are not explored at all - they have exactly zero impact on the story.
Turns out, making a Christopher Nolan movie is harder than it looks.
This is an unique movie. Unique in the sense that I forgot about the movie while I was watching it. It had been compared with 'film noir' and that comparison holds sort-of true purely looking at the story. It's just a really boring attempt at film noire. The movie takes about an hour to get anywhere near interessting and then reveals a thin and straightforward 'whodunnit' plot with a twist-lette you can see coming for miles. When the twist has twisted, the movie goes on for slightly too long to hammer the point home, and ends in a bittersweet moment that has been telegraphed during the movie from about scene 2 onwards. Still, better than sticking sand in your eyes, I guess.
Reading other reviews, this may be a "love it or hate it" kinda affair. I'd personally give it a miss.
This was an old school film noir which we do not see done this well anymore. Given the mix of Sci-Fi and future leanings it remained gritty and classical in nature. The leads were excellent but ultimately the plot was a little unsurprising and you never really believed the relationship between any of them, Neither Thandiwe and Hugh or Hugh and Rebecca had any time to really develop and too little work was done to expand on theta relationships.
I think the story was the focus and snot the character development. Saying that it did keep me watching and clearly Lisa Joy is a talented director , just needs a little more input on the script development.
I really enjoyed this. Well done Lisa Joy. The movie solidly surprised me twice. Minor, but poignant. In the terrible dearth of movies lately, this was a gem.
Why the big floods? Oh, just for the opening scene, I guess.
Reminiscence? Well, that's an amusing title for a forgettable movie like this.
good movie.. forget all the wannabe movie directors in these comments saying otherwise..
Apparently it's to hot to do shit during day time but ain't nobody no sweating in this movie..
Good acting, cinematography and style. The dialogue was a bit kitschy. You can feel Joy's Westworld impacts here from the cast to the storytelling. Sadly it feels more like a half baked miniseries than an actual feature film. It would have been much better in that extended form. Despite enjoying the ideas here I still felt bored through half the film. A weird result. 6.4 for me. It's good but also half empty.
Nothing special. Typical generic Hollywood ending.
Not the worst movie I've ever watched.
5/10
I feel that potential was hugely wasted when turning the movie mainly into a romance. If there would have been a bigger focus on the crime part and if it would’ve been pushed past PG-13 this movie could have worked a lot better. Not saying that they should’ve left out the love story but keeping it more in the background might have helped. This way it’s too mediocre, to boring to really take off. Shame really…
From writer/director Lisa Joy comes the tech-noir thriller Reminiscence. Set in the near future, a memory specialist who helps people recall and relive their memories becomes obsessed with finding a lost lover who disappeared without a trace. Starring Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, and Cliff Curtis, the film has an impressive cast that gives strong performances. And it explores some interesting questions about memory and identity. The production values, special effects, costumes, score, etc. are all especially well-done and help to creative a rich and captivating world. Full of mystery and intrigue, Reminiscence is a remarkably compelling and provocative film.
Not sure why people bash this Movie.
Maybe they don’t understand the genre.
The performance from the lead characters was on point. Cliff Curtis really shined.
The short action sequence felt impactful and the choreography was on par with AAA action movies.
Overall the the visuals are impressive. The setting inspired.
The dialogue is smart and I often thought to myself „hey this has to be based off a book“.
That was 35 minutes of my life I'll never get back. The cast is awesome, the story, not so much. Maybe it got better after 35 minutes, but life is too short to watch something this tedious.
Episode 10x01
Failed on many levels, the film starts without interest, in a good setting and with an interesting premise that as the footage progresses it becomes more laughable and boring. Hugh Jackman brings embarrassment to others in this attempt at film noir and romantic drama. DO NOT COME NEAR.
the idea of the movie is good n all but it's so boring specially the beginning of the movie
So boring and so disapointing. Waste of time.
You're waiting for a train...
So, Interesting, just not great...
It’s boring and predictable. The latter is especially bad for a movie that’s supposed to be a mystery. Also, the whole setting annoys me; the flooding thing adds nothing to the story imho. And to top it all of: the endless voice over made me wanna throw my tv out the window. Most impressive thing about it is Jackman’s physique at his age. Which has nothing to do with the movie whatsoever.
Kudos to the filmmakers and the cast. They did their best to create something original - classy, romantic, and suspenseful.
For what they tried to achieve, I overlook the fact that they didn't fully achieve it.
The pace is a little too slow, like the whole thing runs 5% too slow. And there isn't a great reveal toward the end because the pacing gives plenty of time to see the clues and anticipate the conclusion.
About 30 minutes in and I was having a deja vu of sorts - the section of Inception with the wife and that weird cityscape they wander through. When the credits rolled and I saw the Other Nolan in the list, it made some circular sense.
Rebecca Ferguson is captivating and beautiful. Hugh Jack an plays his role well - strangely looking out of place only during the convoluted action sequences.
As a season of Altered Carbon, this would be fantastic. In this form, it was a commendable and reasonably enjoyable effort that just lacked that final sprinkle of plot to give it more substance.
7.25/10
What the hell was this ? A terrible attempt at a love story with disjointed and illogical loops. I cannot understand why a cast of such high quality would fall for this script. This is the most disappointing Hugh Jackman movie I have ever seen.
This is reminiscent of better films, like Strange Days, for example (which had better tech and a better story). I think with a stronger writer, it could have become a much more exciting movie. Instead, it's sort of a mess that has moments which show what it could have been.
On the bright side, I did find the setting and world far more interesting than the film itself. I loved the visuals and over aesthetic.
disappointed at this, was excited at first
There was some appreciation to this movie. At some points they could have sped it along and at other points it could have been slowed down. All in all it is worth the watch.
Such a good mix of depression, romance, (neo-)noir, and light sci-fi, slightly spiced with a modest action ... Definitely just for a specific audience.
This was fairly good. It was a decent thriller/mystery story pursued thru a new method of story-telling. And I thought it worked pretty well.
How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!
I'd like to see a movie with Rebecca Ferguson playing Rachel Griffiths' younger sister or possibly her daughter.
Who wants to see my Bloefeld impression?
Shout by KhawlahVIP BlockedParentSpoilers2021-08-23T19:20:19Z
It's like the writer constructed a script out of their fortune cookie collection. I kept rolling my eyes at every other line. Seriously, who talks like that? Also, why does every move from the actors look painfully choreographed? Truly a boring, unoriginal, and RIGID waste of time.