London.
Will (Tobias Menzies) is a musician who is barely holding on to life. He has a horrific problem, but we can only guess what it might be.
Eve (Genevieve O’Reilly-Jamie Lapidus’ from Episodes) is a bartender who wants to do something more with her life.
When Will saves her from a drunk, they start hanging out – at least until Eve gets to the party she needs to go to. But their potential “Before Sunrise” story is at times interrupted by Will’s uneasiness, and making Eve question his intentions. If he doesn’t like her, why isn’t he leaving? And if he does like her, why doesn’t he make a move already?
But we, as the audience, know that Will has a lot to deal with, and his indecision comes from the fact that even though he really likes her, he doesn’t want her to get involved in his issues. Because as it is made clear to us from the first moments of the film, Will isn’t exactly a big fan of living at the moment…
Forget Me Not ISN’T Before Sunrise. And it’s a good thing!
I really loved Forget Me Not. It’s not Before Sunrise, and it is not trying to be.
On many levels, it feels even more real. Let’s face it – the biggest issue of the characters from Before Sunrise was that they lived in other continents. Boo-hoo.
Now, while I love Before Sunrise (and Before Sunset) to bits, it is totally Jesse and Celine’s fault (or blessing-depends on how you interpret Before Sunset) that they choose to leave things to fate.
Will’s problem…well…it is not like he wants to die for his gothic beliefs. It’s not like he is depressed because his wife left him or something. He knows that his future is worse than bleak, and he is going to lose a lot before he dies a natural death. So a part of him wants to take fate into his own hands…a part of him well…can’t decide on the timing. And Eve is just the perfect distraction from that awful future.
Can two people really fall in love in the course of a day? Probably. Celine and Jesse made us believe it. Eve and Will made me believe it. The question is, how much realism can you handle in a romantic movie?
Who should watch it?
Pretty much everyone who has a thing for a heart-felt romantic story that doesn’t have an escapist feel to it. If you are a cynic, you’ll like the fact that love, in this film, doesn’t come at the right moment or bring happily ever after. If you are a romantic, you’ll like the fact that love can happen-even at the worst of times.
Shit happens. Life can suck, but it isn’t without its beautiful moments. I guess whether you can empathize with Will or not depends on….well, it really depends on your ability to empathize. After all, even the most cheerful and larger-than-life people can become suicidal when they realize life as they know it is about to be over, and we are not talking about losing your job here.
“Our memories make us,” as Will says. So the best you can do is to make the best of now by making as many great memories as you can. And love for 24 hours is better than no love at all.
So see the movie, but be prepared for its depressing and truthful moments-even though the message is, ultimately, whatever you make it.
*
Written by Mark Underwood, & Rebecca Long, and Steve Spence. Directed by Alexander Holt and Lance Roehrig.