As “Deadpool & Wolverine” continues to obliterate the box office, there’s been plenty of time to reminisce about Hugh Jackman’s esteemed career. Even “Deadpool & Wolverine” itself included a tribute to one of Jackman’s best movies by including a subtle nod to his Oscar-nominated performance as Jean Valjean in 2012’s “Les Misérables.” The 55-year-old has certainly had a historic Hollywood run, not only delivering critically acclaimed performances, but becoming a true comic book movie legend by defining the role of Logan/Wolverine in his many appearances as the character.
But that doesn’t mean everything Jackman has done has been a success. Take 2021’s “Reminiscence,” for example. This sci-fi thriller was directed by Lisa Joy, who, alongside her husband Jonathan Nolan, co-created “Westworld” and more recently executive produced the massive Prime Video hit “Fallout.” Unfortunately, “Reminiscence,” which starred Jackman as a veteran and private investigator who offers clients the ability to relive their memories, wasn’t quite as successful as Joy’s forays into TV.
The film, which also stars Rebecca Ferguson as Jackman’s lover, failed to wow critics, and currently has just a 30% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, if you look at the average rating on the site, it’s actually five out of 10, so not quite as bad as the frequently misleading percentage score would have you believe. Still, “Reminiscence” is far from Jackman’s finest hour … which makes it perfectly primed for Netflix success.
Netflixers relive the memory of Reminiscence
“Reminiscence” sees Hugh Jackman’s Nicolas Bannister fall for Rebecca Ferguson’s Mae. But very soon, his newfound love goes missing, and after a new client’s memories seem to reveal that Mae was involved in the criminal underworld, Bannister has to use his own technology to uncover the truth. That doesn’t sound like too bad a plot does it? Well, it certainly wasn’t enough to garner any kind of box office success. The movie made just $15.4 million on a $67.9 million budget — though it should be said that in 2021, the pandemic was still very much an issue in terms of moviegoing. Either way, it seems neither bad reviews nor commercial failures have put off the Netflix crowd, who are happily reliving the memory of “Reminiscence” to the extent that they’ve managed to get it charting in the U.S.
According to FlixPatrol, a site which tracks streaming viewership numbers, “Reminiscence” crept onto the most-watched films chart Stateside on August 8, 2024, when it charted at number 10. That’s pretty good, considering the movie only hit the streamer on August 6. Now, we all know how this stuff works. Any studio film that looks half-decent in the “Recently Added” category has a chance of charting on Netflix, and “Reminiscence” is no different. But this sort of thing is usually reserved for long-forgotten films such as Bruce Willis’ 2010 action comedy “Red,” which recently hit Netflix and quickly moved up the charts. So if it seems like people should have been given longer to forget about “Reminiscence” before it benefitted from the Netflix effect, that’s really just a testament to how many people didn’t see or hear about the movie when it dropped.
Should you give Reminiscence a chance?
If you’re unfamiliar with how these Netflix chart hits work, it’s worth bearing in mind that, as the Michael Fassbender flop “The Snowman” proved, Netflixers will watch pretty much anything — especially if it’s a long-forgotten or under-seen film that could be mistaken for a brand new release. What’s more, Kevin Hart’s “Lift” topped the Netflix charts at the beginning of the year, so it isn’t just old flops that do well on Netflix, it’s … well Kevin Hart’s “Lift.” That should give you some idea of whether a film succeeding on the streamer is an indication of its quality.
But look, we already know the 30% RT score isn’t really that accurate a reflection of the critical response. Yes, critics didn’t love this movie, but five out of 10 is better than 30%, so there must be something to “Reminiscence,” right? Well, according to the New York Times’ Manohla Dargis, the film “draws you in with genre beats, pretty people and the professional polish of its machined parts.” Meanwhile, The London Evening Standard’s Charlotte O’Sullivan concluded after seeing the film that “Lisa Joy has the potential to be a major film-maker.”
That said, in his review, /Film’s Chris Evangelista did call the movie “a bit too convoluted” and noted that it comes with “a wild misstep of an ending; a conclusion that fails to elicit any emotion it’s reaching for.” So don’t expect to discover anything revelatory if you do relive the forgotten memory of “Reminiscence.” But if you’re going to spend an evening with Netflix, we’ll say this: It’s a much better proposition than Kevin Hart’s “Lift.”
