Fragments from the past - Reminiscence, the review

Fragments from the past - Reminiscence

Hugh Jackman has always been a tremendously versatile actor, although most audiences remember him primarily for his portrayal of the clawed mutant Wolverine / Logan in the now legendary pre-MCU X-Men film series. The Fountain, Prestige, Australia and Les Misérables are just some of the films in which the Australian-born star took part, thanks to an out of the ordinary skill and an ability to interpret the most disparate roles, far from that of the classic hero of all. a piece. So it's no surprise to see Jackman star in a project like Fragments from the Past - Reminiscence, written and directed by Lisa Joy (co-creator and executive producer of the HBO series Westworld - Where Anything Is Allowed) here debuting as a film director for the big screen, intriguing and not a little.



Joy therefore had carte blanche on the project (based on an original screenplay of hers), bringing on board besides Jackman also two actresses like Rebecca Ferguson and Thandie Newton (also in the cast Nico Parker, Daniel Wu, Cliff Curtis, Brett Cullen and Mojean Aria). Unfortunately, however, as often happens in these cases, the final result is unfortunately not up to the sum of the individual parts. Let's start from the plot: in the not too distant future (we are in 2030) climate warming has caused a collapse for the planet, torn apart by climate crises and forcing the survivors to live almost exclusively at night (the daytime hours have in fact become unlivable due to of an unbearable heat). The injustices of a society in which poor and rich are now two well-defined factions outlining a world suffering devastation from the consequences of global warming.

Reminiscence: the past does not forget

The sea level has also risen to unimaginable levels, which has led to the flooding of cities like Miami. Precisely in the southeastern city of Florida we find Nick Bannister who, together with his collaborator Emily Watts, has developed a futuristic technology that allows you to relive the memories of a human being, as if they were real time travel. More specifically, Nick is able to dig into the past of his customers, thus helping them to access the most buried memories, given that the machine allows you to relive important moments from a person's past, managing to perceive on your skin even the scents and the sensations experienced at that particular moment in their life, as well as the unprecedented possibility of resolving unresolved issues.

The situation becomes complicated when Nick's door comes to a customer named Mae (Ferguson), a singer of night who asks for help with an all too simple matter, namely the loss of a bunch of keys. Things get complicated when the girl soon disappears without a trace. Nick, almost obsessively in love with Mae, will then immediately set out on the woman's trail, thanks also to the possibility of investigating the folds of time and her memories. Needless to say, hidden secrets, lies and a bigger-than-expected conspiracy will put Bannister in serious danger.

Fragments from the past - Reminiscence poses as a noir with sci-fi elements, set in a more or less classic dystopian future. less plausible, which certainly does not sound like a novelty for anyone who has followed the genre since the early 2000s. The touch of the co-creator of Westworld, at ease in dealing with more classic dramatic themes and peppering them with science fiction elements, it is evident from the first minute, although the film takes a while to take off. In fact, Nick's character is not the classic hero all in one piece, but a private investigator who will decide to act on the edge of legality in order to find his lost love for him. The charisma of Jackman and Ferguson (who, curiosity, had already starred together in The Greatest Showman) represent in fact the backbone capable of supporting alone the weight of a film that unfortunately stumbles upon its own ambitions.

This is because if on the one hand Fragments from the past - Reminiscence is a noir with thriller veins that can be watched without problems (but which struggles to remain impressed), on the other hand the main plot is written and developed without too much conviction, while paying homage in some way the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Although some ideas are certainly functional to the context, Joy's inexperience in the field of cinema ends up leaving us at the mercy of a film not at the level of the sacred monsters of the genre, often and willingly evoked in short tributes and winks more or less voluntary (including of course Blade Runner, but also Chinatown). Even with regard to the few action sequences, some fights and shootings strategically placed to break a basic monotony seem to have been created to ape some early 2000s action films in a rather gaudy way.

Memories are fragments from the past

The film also offers a rather stereotypical love story, hidden by various subplots that the viewer will not give too much weight to. The liaison between Hugh and Rebecca is in fact the only reason for interest in a script written probably without a clear and strong conceptual idea. Even at a purely directorial level Fragments from the past - Reminiscence shows the desire to make everything too perfect and "glossy", which represents a not indifferent blow to the general atmosphere, which should instead be dirty, dusty and gloomy as per the tradition of noir / sci-fi genre. Lisa Joy has opted for a scenographic rendering that is too bright and vivid, where every detail (and face) is always outlined beyond the limit of common sense.

Even the musical accompaniment (obviously including the soundtrack of the film , curated by Ramin Djawadi) offers pieces often far from the main context, which tends to further distance the viewer from the general involvement. This is a great shame, given that an after all mighty cast strives beyond all limits to support a film as intriguing as it is watered down. Considering the goodness of the basic idea, it would certainly have been better if Lisa Joy had opted for a TV series along the lines of her Westworld, thus managing to outline more carefully a love story full of interesting tech noir goodies, supported by a stellar cast here blatantly in trouble. By doing so, Fragments from the past - Reminiscence turns out to be just yet another science fiction thriller that we will certainly not hear about in the years to come (even in the face of lukewarm receipts at the American box office). Unless someone decides to investigate our most hidden memories.