Robert Pattinson's 'Love Story'

May 20, 3:45 PMBooks on Film ExaminerConnie Ann Kirk

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Recently, it was announced that actor/musician Robert Pattinson will be starring in Remember Me, which will begin filming in New York City this summer between Twilight saga installments, New Moon and Eclipse (the Twilight films are based on the popular book series by Stephenie Meyer). The plot summary of Remember Me is said to be a romance between two college-aged young adults that is hampered by tragedies in each of the lovers’ lives. According to Screen Daily.com, Summit Entertainment co-Chairman and CEO Patrick Wachsberger described Remember Me as “this generation’s Love Story.” The reference has since been debated.* Whether true to the spirit of the future film or not, the reference will most likely be lost on most moviegoers and readers of Twilight’s teen and pre-teen audience.

Love Story is a 1970 film based on a book of the same name written by Erich Segal, who also wrote the screenplay. In fact, the book came out soon after the film, rather than the other way around. The movie was directed by Arthur Hiller and starred Ryan O’Neal as Harvard law student, Oliver Bennett III, and Ali McGraw as Radcliffe music undergraduate, Jennifer Cavallari. Oliver Bennett’s father is played by Ray Milland. A young Tommy Lee Jones, in his first film role, plays one of Oliver’s roommates.

Bennett and Cavalleri meet at college and fall in love. Oliver’s strained relationship with his wealthy father spills over into his new relationship with Jenny. When tragedy strikes the couple, Oliver and his father are faced with a decision to make about whether or not to make amends. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor for John Marley, who plays Jenny’s father, Phil; and Best Writing. Francis Lai won the Oscar for Best Music, Original Score.

Will Robert Pattinson’s Remember Me be this generation’s Love Story? Perhaps the cross-generational appeal of the actor’s performance in Twilight will work to the advantage of answering this question as viewers discuss Pattinson’s new film. Remember Me is scheduled to be released just before Valentine’s Day, 2010.
 

[Photo:  Robert Pattinson at Cannes Film Festival, May 19, 2009. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles].

 *UPDATE:  Today (May 19, 2009) in an interview at the Cannes Film Festival, Mr. Pattinson stated that Remember Me "isn't anything like Love Story." We have no reason not to believe him.  However, since the comparison was initially made by an executive at Summit, it will still be interesting to see if viewers think the comparison holds up or not when the movie comes out.