Reminiscence (2021) Warner Bros./Sci-Fi-Thriller RT: 116 minutes Rated PG-13 (strong violence, drug material throughout, sexual content, some strong language) Director: Lisa Joy Screenplay: Lisa Joy Music: Ramin Djawadi Cinematography: Paul Cameron Release date: August 20, 2021 (US) Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, Cliff Curtis, Daniel Wu, Mojean Aria, Marina de Tavira, Brett Cullen, Natalie Martinez, Angela Sarafyan, Javier Molina, Sam Medina, Norio Nishimura, Roxton Garcia, Giovannie Cruz. Box Office: $3.9M (US)/$16.4M (World)
Rating: ***
I’ll grant that Reminiscence isn’t the first movie to put a futuristic sci-fi spin on 40s film noir. I’m sure it won’t be the last either. It certainly won’t be the last to pale in comparison to Blade Runner, still the best sci-fi-noir hybrid EVER!
To be fair, Reminiscence owes a great debt to author Philip K. Dick as it also borrows elements of Total Recall and Minority Report in addition to Blade Runner, an adaptation of his brilliant dystopian novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The truth is there’s not a single original idea in Reminiscence. It also borrows from Strange Days, Waterworld, Chinatown, Inception, Vanilla Sky and any number of classic noirs- e.g. Out of the Past, The Maltese Falcon.
Written and directed by Lisa Joy (HBO’s Westworld), Reminiscence is set in a future where climate change has flooded cities and raised temperatures to a point where people live nocturnally because it’s unbearably hot when the sun is up. Only the elite (rich people) can afford to live on dry land; everybody else lives in the waterlogged streets of the city. They must go through a lot of socks just walking across the street.
Nick Bannister (Jackman, the X-Men movies) is the hard-boiled detective character. He and his partner, Girl Friday character Watts (Newton, Mission: Impossible 2), operate a unique business in Miami. They allow clients to relive specific memories with a memory machine (aka “the Reminiscence”). Watts fits them with a wired headpiece and submerges them in water while Nick provides psychological prompts. The memories are stored on discs as 3D holograms for the clients to revisit any time they’d like. They do a lot of repeat business.
One day, a sexy, mysterious lady walks in asking for helping finding her keys. She’s nightclub singer Mae (Ferguson, Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation & Fallout), the femme fatale of the story. Nick is instantly smitten with her and they begin a relationship much to Watts’ disapproval. She doesn’t trust Mae. Nick is deliriously happy and in love. Then, just like that, Nick is awakened by Watts. It turns out he’s been spending an inordinate amount of time in the Reminiscence reliving the relationship. Mae disappeared without a trace months earlier and he’s looking for any clue that might help him track her down. I guess it never occurred to him that she might not want to be found. His investigation leads him to a conspiracy involving drug dealers, corrupt cops and the wealthiest family in Miami. As we all know, wealthy and screwed-up go together like PB&J in movies like this.
It’s the time of the season when you have to take whatever pleasure you can from the slim pickings of the late-August movie releases. That’s one thing COVID didn’t change. The studios still unload their dregs in the final dog days of summer. Nice to see some things stay the same. I can see why Warner waited until now to release Reminiscence. It’s not an easy film to market. Technically, it’s sci-fi, but not the kind with lasers, spaceships and super-powered aliens. It’s only sci-fi in the sense that it’s set in a future hell where our greatest fears- i.e. climate change- have become an everyday reality. As I see it, it’s more of a neo-noir with sci-fi trappings. It has all the classic noir elements including a voiceover by the protagonist. He utters deep/non-deep statements like “The past can haunt a man.” and “Memories are like perfume. Better in small doses.”
In this future, it’s possible to tap into a person’s memories and not just for purposes of reminiscence. Law enforcement uses it for interrogation purposes. A warrant is required, of course. Nick is called upon from time to time by the DA (Martinez, End of Watch) to help elicit information from suspects or witnesses by observing their memories. It’s an interesting idea I wish the makers had expounded on a little more. For all its lofty ideas, Reminiscence remains rather superficial. It has themes that demand deep exploration and don’t get it.
Jackman is fine in the lead role, but I can’t help thinking the role could have been played by any actor, A-list or otherwise. He doesn’t really do anything special with it. Honestly, I’d have rather seen Clive Owen play the part. We know he can do disheveled; look at him in Children of Men. Ferguson is terrific as the femme fatale. She is mad sexy and alluring. When she sings, it’s easy to see why men fall at her lovely feet. Newton is sufficiently tough and steely as the Girl Friday who might harbor feelings for her boss only he wouldn’t know it. They’ve been friends since “the war” and he sees her as a sister-in-arms. He knows nothing about her past. Isn’t that always the way?
Despite it being derivative from start to finish, Reminiscence is a nicely entertaining sci-fi-noir with a decent storyline. Although it’s described as a “mind bender”, it’s not mind-boggling like last year’s Tenet. The narrative is a little more straightforward even with the occasional visits to the land of memories. I wouldn’t call it predictable, but the pieces of the puzzle form a picture we’ve seen before. It’s still kind of cool though. I like this movie. I like it more than many of my colleagues. It’s no classic, but it’s better than the crap that usually comes out this time of the year.
