Rememory

I would like to believe that Peter Dinklage is an actor capable of anything, especially when actors like Julia Ormond and Anton Yelchin support him. But "Rememory" proves that a poor script can prevent a good performance. Not even Dinklage can pull off the bad dialogue and silly premise of this sci-fi drama.

The first problem is the concept. A scientist, Gordon Dunn (Martin Donovan), has invented a machine that captures memories as photo-realistic mini-films (with studio lighting, lovely art direction and meaningful, yet somehow completely objective, editing). This flies in the face of two millennia of philosophical debate about the nature of metaphysics, perception, language, art and, indeed, reality itself, but that is of no concern to anyone. According to this scenario, the human eye is a camera that records everything placed before it; then the subconscious throws much of the information away for emotional protection.

Peter Dinkledge plays Sam Bloom, a man who uses the memory machine to uncover the mysterious death of its inventor. Was it suicide or murder? Many people had an emotionally complicated relationship with Dunn and saw him on the night of his death - his estranged wife (Julia Ormond), his lover (�velyne Brochu) and a disgruntled user of the prototypical memory device (Anton Yelchin).

Instead of meditating on the ethics of this new technology or the nature of perception, this movie gives us trite aphorisms about the emotional implications of memory and the importance of subconscious defense mechanisms.

Worse than "Rememory"'s failure as good science fiction is its failure to hold our interest. Canadian director and screenwriter Mark Palansky, in collaboration with writer Michael Vukadinovich, takes an effective mystery formula and neutralizes it -- the suspense is unsuspenseful and the sentiment is unmoving. Bloom's character is neither menacing nor sympathetic as a detective in search of answers, and the suspects aren't particularly suspicious. So when the reversal comes in the end, there's no catharsis for the audience.

This Blu-ray disc comes with an audio commentary featuring Dinklage and the director and a half-hour-long featurette where the cast testifies to the effectiveness of the script. Dinklage has made some very smart choices as a performer, and he's good enough to consistently draw an audience. On the other hand, he also made "Pixels." It's crushing when those whose taste you want to trust let you down.

"Rememory"
Blu-ray
$19.99
lionsgate.com