He moves through the film like he considers this is "Rebel Without A Cause," and since both he and de Ravin have to contend with their fathers (Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper, repectively) as major parts of their pain in the film, the "Rebel" comparison is particularly apt.
But when he meets a relentlessly quirky working-class girl (Emilie De Ravin) with her own daddy issues, his "Rebel Without a Cause" mantle begins to slip.
Screenwriter Will Fetters and director Allen Coulter obviously had memories of Nicolas Ray’s “Rebel Without a Cause” (1965) in mind here, envisioning Pattinson as this generation’s James Dean.
Just like Dean’s character Jimmy Stark in “Rebel Without a Cause,” Tyler suffers from perpetual melancholy and disaffection, lacking a place he can relax and call home.
In “Remember Me,” Robert Pattinson, the producer and leading man, displays genuine acting chops as a “Rent”-related cousin of the “Rebel Without a Cause.”
Like James Dean smoking and brooding through Rebel Without a Cause, Robert Pattinson puffs and sulks - often, impressively, at the same time - in the intense romantic drama Remember Me.