Movie Review: “Reminders Of Him” Fails To Impress

After prison, a woman attempts to reconnect with her young daughter but faces resistance from everyone except a bar owner with ties to her child. As they grow closer, she must confront her past mistakes to build a hopeful future.

Colleen Hoover has had two movie adaptations of her books so far, with many more to come. “Reminders of Him” is the third book-to-movie adaptation of one of her novels.

Kenna (Maika Monroe) has recently been released from prison and moved back to her hometown. She was driving in an accident that killed her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow), and was convicted of vehicular manslaughter. Scotty’s parents have been looking after her daughter, but do not want Kenna to meet her, while she is desperate to.

She meets Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), for the first time. Something that strains credulity. It is explained that he was playing in the NFL, so he didn’t have the time or chance to meet his best friend’s girlfriend. He turns out to be a nice guy who helps her get back on her feet and becomes a new love interest.

The chemistry between the two leads here is quite appalling in all honesty. But neither actor has great material to work with. They both deliver lines pretty woodenly, but try their best to give life to this script wherever they can. It’s too bad because I do like Monroe as an actress. I thought she was great in “It Follows.”

The highlight of the film for me is a side character, Diana (Monika Myers), who provides much-needed comedic relief.

A lot of melodrama ensues in this film. And though Scotty is often mentioned in the film, he has few flashback scenes. His impact feels very minimal because of this. I would say that 90% of the time, show don’t tell works better in film and TV. It doesn’t make sense to me why this character is not in this more. We only have an inkling of what Kenna and Ledger’s relationship with him was like before he passed.

Everyone feels very one-dimensional in this film. That is by far my biggest gripe. The drama might have been more interesting if we had more complex characters. Kenna is sad, Ledger is kind, Scotty’s parents can hold a grudge, and Kenna’s daughter is a cute, innocent little girl.

So what’s good about this movie? They actually filmed this movie on location, which is cool. Other than that? Nothing really.

I’m curious to see how this movie will perform at the box office since these adaptations have typically made big bucks. But I would tell even the biggest Colleen Hoover fan to skip this one.

In Theaters Friday, March 13th