Remember Yesterday
“Remember Yesterday” feels like a personal film. It also feels like a directorial debut. Neither of those are bad things, inherently, but when it feels more like the latter than the former, that can dampen our enjoyment of the story the film is telling. Writer-director J.R. Rodriguez knows the story he wants to tell, but as a director, the film feels very amateurish in its execution. That’s a shame, because the film has some good ideas when it comes to taking a chance, whether it’s in love or a career. Because the execution is not as good as the writing, the film feels more generic than you want it to be.
Jenny (Jana Allen) is a waitress in a small North Carolina town. She owns a shop, and is someone who has to lend money to her brother (Rick Forrester), who struggles with his construction work. She’s separated from her husband (Ron Fallica), whose alcoholism ruined their marriage. Now, a movie is coming to town, and the director is an old flame of Jenny’s, John Raymond (Adrian Monte). He’s making it in the town to honor a promise to his mother, but as he ramps up for production, old feelings and memories- not only for John, but her dreams of being an actor- begin to stir, especially when an opportunity to return to the stage presents itself.
Rodriguez’s film feels generic, but the story still works in a lot of ways. Allen as Jenny is charming, which goes a long way towards keeping this 75-minute film moving. The characters are familiar archetypes if you’ve seen any Hallmark films- Christmas or otherwise- and ultimately, I’m all for stories about looking at the past, and pushing yourself towards a different future. That’s something that Allen plays very well here, even if the romantic angle is telegraphed a mile away. The rest of the characters are standard-issue small-town characters like John’s production assistant, Jenny’s friends in town, the theatre instructor and everyone else. If you don’t mind your romantic movies with a hunk of cheese, “Remember Yesterday” should win you over, even if it’s barely.
Remember Yesterday official trailer from Digital Garden Media on Vimeo.
