A terrific disappointment: Lisa Joy’s future thriller “Reminiscence – The memory never dies”.
Sometimes it happens that an American blockbuster is preceded by so many bad reviews that you really want to see it. Everything that “Reminiscence” has failed because of, sounds irresistible: A “film noir” with Hugh Jackman as a detective, who uses a futuristic machine to read out the memories of his customers. A Miami badly hit by the climate catastrophe with sunken streets as neon Venice. Rebecca Ferguson as femme fatale, who sings such relational songs in a dim bar as: “Where or When”. Yes, where or when did we last see that?
Lisa Joy’s feature film debut, one of the inventors of the series version of “Westworld”, is not just about memories, it also wakes up a lot – especially better films. Some of them even quotes in dialogue, such as the film noir classic “Out of the Past”, others, such as “Brazil” or “Blade Runner”, conjure up the opulent, albeit largely digital, equipment.
A Miami where you only venture out onto the flooded streets at night because of the heat is a good idea, at least visually. And how much joy did Kevin Costner’s also widely dismissed “Waterworld” dystopia give at the time? In this stream of cinematic memory, she also swims right at the top. And if that wasn’t enough, we are also promised a good portion of neo-noir eroticism: “9 ½ weeks” is obviously one of Joy’s favorite films.
Only Hugh Jackman’s detective Rick Bannister doesn’t seem to have seen many films. Otherwise all the alarm bells went off when the lascivious Mae ordered a memory session just to look for lost keys. Rick’s co-worker, played by Thandiwe Newton, will point out: “It’s just an idea that has been squeezed into a tight dress.” walked into Humphrey Bogart’s detective agency in the classic “The Falcon’s Trail” – allegedly to look for her sister. But the warning comes too late: Our Rick has already fallen madly in love by then. After a brief affair, she disappears without a trace – and only the memories remain for Rick, in which he loses himself like an addict.
The outside memory?
It should be mentioned that Lisa Joy’s brother-in-law is Christopher Nolan, a filmmaker who is at least as interested in the phenomena of time and memory as Hitchcock is in murders. But while Nolan also prepares his scripts with watchmaker-like precision, Joy cares little about a logic in the absurd. The holographic memory films, which are presented on a small stage during Rick’s sessions, run in the third person. So, curiously, the memory appears from the outside perspective, as if one had tapped God’s surveillance camera. After all, such an objectifiable treasure trove of information allows the detective to look for traces of their existence in the memories of Mae’s acquaintances. As you can imagine, they are mostly bad guys, and obviously she was up to something.
In fact, one follows the first hour of what is perhaps the most elaborate film debut in years with fascination. But then you got tired of the sets, like in an expensive but unimaginative opera production. Not only Rebecca Ferguson’s film character is little more than an idea that has been put into a costume. Hugh Jackman deserves credit for how patiently he plays a role that simply cannot come to life. As much as Lisa Joy pays homage to a film history that is only externally internalized, Hollywood also submits to the series culture for which it stands. But anyone who writes an endless series like “Westworld” doesn’t have to worry about plausible developments or a satisfactory conclusion – after all, every character can be steered on new paths.
Only Joy refuses playfulness in her first movie. Before she comes up with a strange Hollywood ending that will surely not satisfy anyone, her characters remain as rigid and straightforward as the souvenir films they carry with them. Sunken Miami, this dark, indulgent dream city, deserves more interesting residents.
Reminiscence – The memory never dies. USA 2021. Director: Lisa Joy. 116 min.
