Part "Inception," part "Minority Report" and part "Strange Days," with a handful of other signposts baked in for good measure, "Reminiscence" is never more than the sum of its influences.
In her feature film debut, writer-director Lisa Joy, a co-creator on HBO's "Westworld," creates a convincing post-global warming world where Miami is submerged in water and the classes are separated by wet and dry land ("sink the barons" is the graffiti stand-in for "eat the rich"). Too bad it's all in service of a gruff detective noir that plays like a well-thumbed dime store paperback, each storytelling cliche more telegraphed than the last.
Hugh Jackman plays Nick Bannister, a detective who deals in people's memories, and lets clients relive their past by submerging themselves in a water tank and hooking up to a headset that lets their thoughts play out like a theater of holograms. His partner is the hard-drinking Watts ("Westworld's" Thandiwe Newton).
Nick's world is upended when he meets a mysterious dame, Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), who comes into his office with a story about losing her keys. She's a lounge singer (of course she is) caught up in some shady dealings (surprise, surprise), and Nick becomes obsessed with getting to the bottom of her and her case, which involves a criminal (Cliff Curtis, riffing on young De Niro), the murder of an innocent woman and a kidnapping.
Joy's world-building and visuals are impressive, but the story, along with Jackman's hard-boiled narration, hold it back. Why create an intriguing futuristic universe just to serve a story that feels like it's set in 1920s Chicago? In "Reminiscence," the past is always a little too present.
———
'REMINISCENCE'
Grade: C
MPAA rating: PG-13 (for strong violence, drug material throughout, sexual content and some strong language)
Running time: 1:56
Where to watch: In theaters and streaming on HBO Max Friday
———
