Reminders of Him: Movie Review
Warnings: Character death and Incarceration. Spoilers will be included in review so avoid
After reading Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover, I was looking forward to the movie. While it was a good movie, this felt like a watered down adaptation of the book that touched on themes of alcoholism, incarceration, and substance abuse wrapped into a romance novel.
First off, a lot of scenes from the book felt rushed in order to get to the main parts of the movie (e.g. the car crash that ultimately took Scotty’s life and Kenna’s reunification with Diem). However it felt there was such a lack of depth that went into the movie. Yes, I can tell that the acting and the process was done with a lot of heart, but I wish there was more elements from the book integrated into the film. For instance, the scene with Ivy in jail as she help Kenna and gives her the advice to either live or die in her sadness of having Diem taken away from her before the chance she got to even hold her. It’s an important scene, especially in the book because we see some sort of reinvention of how Kenna finds the strength to live her life without Diem and while I’m glad they included this interaction in the movie, I wish there was some sort of time to allow it to develop and really feel the emotional weight of that scene because it’s a pivotal scene along with Diem being reunited with Kenna, which was well acted. Honestly, there’s a depth that really shows all of the struggle Kenna goes through for that one moment was worth it and did tear up during that scene.
Transitioning into the acting portion of this review, Diem’s actress did a fantastic job of portraying her character. I won’t go really into detail about her character since its a kid actor but the way they were able to balance out Diem’s silly side and at the same time hold some weight in her words with simple questions. The characterization of Diem felt realistic to what a five year old child would do/be (minus the social media/screen time kids have today). There was an innocence and charm she was able to bring out of the adult actors. For instance, while Ledger (Tyriq Withers) has a tough exterior as someone who closes off to Kenna at first is able to drop the exterior for his best friend’s daughter. The chemistry between them from the first scene when it comes to “is that a freaking pigeon?” (Diem, 2026). So cute! The timing and delivery was perfect with that line , along with Lady Diana’s line of calling Ledger a jerk.
ack to Ledger, he is someone with a lot of layers. While his feelings for Kenna increase, there’s a responsibility he feels towards Diem and not wanting to lose her. He constantly is taking sides once he finds out the truth about what happened and while reading this, I knew there would be a heartbreak to his character and the piece as a whole and I wish the film explored this more and spend less time on the romance because this much more than a romantic film and anyone who does see it…be warned. While the chemistry between Maika and Tyriq was good, I wish there was further exploration on there characters and give the relationship more time to marinate. Along with the whole exploration of how Scotty really died/the relationship Kenna has with his parents.
This part frustrated me the most. The most critical moments of the book is the buildup on the interaction Kenna has with Scotty’s parents. In the book, they have this preconceived notion of what Kenna is like and the tension builds up until the accident that took his life. While in the book, the parent’s grief is understandable and could feel the grief they have, the movie downplays it to the point where they are mad at her for taking half an edible gummy. This frustrates because yes, she technically did “kill” him, they never were able to get closure with her except for the letter Ledger ultimately gives them, explaining what happened that dat and even then, there was no love given to the scene, it was quick but in the book the town loved Scotty and wish we got to see that. Also Patrick, both times he assaulted Ledger all I could think was “Ledger could press charges against Patrick.” I know, it’s part of the movie/book but it infuriates me to see that to no end, along with giving Kenna a restraining order while she’s at work which…ugh! Still hate those two scenes in both the book and movie, but did see how far they were willing to go to prevent Kenna from seeing Diem. It was reasonable in the book because we got more understanding/context as to what they’re relationship was like prior to the accident, but in the movie…it was a whole different story and wish they expanded on that because the end, while they were able to somewhat make amends, there were still some loose ends regarding Patrick and Kenna. Sure, Grace and Kenna made peace, there was so much more they could’ve done.
I’m not sure what other adaptions of Colleen Hoover’s books have been like since this is my first time watching an adaption of one of her books, I do think there was more they could’ve done with this because there are so many layers to every character that they’ve watered down. So see this as a caution for those into romance movies /Colleen Hoover’s books. Overall, expected more out of this movie and was left unsatisfied to be honest despite some excellent performances by the cast.