David R. Walker

Reminders of Him

Director: Vanessa Caswill

Cast: Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Nicholas Duvernay, Lauren Graham, Bradley Whitford, Rudy Pankow, Zoe Kosovic

Running Time: 1 hour and 54 minutes

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Director Vanessa Caswill’s transition from TV director to big screen director does not come off effortlessly in the lacklustre film adaptation of New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover’s novel Reminders of Him starring a low key cast including Maika Monroe as Kenna Rowen and Tyriq Withers as Ledger Ward.

Reminders of Him revolves around the redemption story of Kenna Rowen who moves back to Laramie, Wyoming after serving prison time for vehicular manslaughter when her boyfriend, Scotty Landry played by Rudy Pankow is killed in a freak car accident when she was driving them towards a diner.

Fast forward 6 years and Kenna is an ex-convict out on parole and dead broke and trying to find a job. She moves into a motel complex called Paradise and then she begins to pick up the shattered mess that is her life. Her beautiful daughter is being looked after by her dead boyfriend’s affluent parents Grace and Patrick Landry expertly played by Lauren Graham (Because I said So, Sweet November) and Bradley Whitford (Get Out, Saving Mr Banks). Scotty’s best friend Ledger Ward is playing foster dad to the precocious 5 year old, brilliantly played by Zoe Kosovic.

Unfortunately unlike director Justin Baldoni’s glossy adaptation of another Colleen Hoover novel It Ends with Us, this film version does not lift off the page and the characters with the exception of Ledger appear to be dull.

This film lacks a good casting director, since now there is an Oscar category for that profession and Reminders of Him needed a prolific actor or two to rejuvenate this film despite its autumnal cinematography by Tim Ives and breath taking mountainous scenery.

Reminders of Him begins with conflict and despair and as the narrative winds along a slow road to a more redemptive conclusion, the story leaves the audience with more questions than answers.

Romantic dramas always find an audience judging by how fill the cinema was on a Sunday afternoon, however this film could have been so much better yet it is saved by a great performance by Tyriq Withers (Him, I Know What You Did Last Summer) as the hunky bar owner Ledger Ward whose charismatic screen presence makes up for all that is missing with Maika Monroe as Kenna.

Maika Monroe (Independence Day: Resurgence) does lacks some screen presence, which is something she can work on as an actress and draw inspiration from the exceptional female talent on screen this decade.

Rudy Pankow’s onscreen moments as the pivotal Scotty Landry are too few to make the flashbacks scenes resonate emotionally.

Reminders of Him gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10 and is a romantic drama without the fireworks or flair, a middle of the road story about tragedy, loss and redemption.

Recommended for those that enjoy light hearted stories stripped of glamour or substance.

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