“Remember Me”

“Remember Me” is a film drunk on its own self-seriousness, but somehow, that seems to matter less and less and it progresses. The presence of Robert Pattinson is probably enough to divide potential audiences into two extreme camps with just a glance of the poster, but his pop culture persona doesn’t come into play much here.

Pattinson stars as Tyler Hawkins, a New York City college kid still reeling from his brother’s suicide. He meets cute with Ally Craig (“Lost’s” Emilie de Ravin), who saw her mother murdered as a child.

The potential for obviousness is in almost every scene of the film, but it somehow manages to skirt it most of the time, opting to allow the viewer to make at least some of the connections — increasingly rare in mainstream film, and one would think impossible in a Pattinson vehicle.

The two are caught up in a whirlwind romance, which gives us some of the film’s more drippy moments, like repeated shots of Pattinson gazing broodingly out the window or a golden-hued, Sigur Rós-scored sex scene,

Still, director Allen Coulter allows these only to be beats in the larger tale, which incorporates a number of fleshed-out characters, including Tyler’s roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington) and his little sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins). The fathers of Tyler and Ally (Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper, respectively) are framed by cliché, but emerge as real human beings nonetheless.

Pattinson and de Ravin make for an engaging onscreen couple, but this film’s not really about the thrall of young love or even the perils of romance. “Twilight” fans will likely only enjoy it if they miss the point.

Rather, “Remember Me” is a rumination on tragedy. Some may be put off by the film’s tone and its denouement admittedly strains credulity, but in a larger world context, it works. Tragedy can tie people together just as easily as it rips them apart.

A mainstream film that allows for the recognition of something universal beyond its own all-consuming internal world seems rare, and is enough to qualify “Remember Me” as a welcome surprise.

“Our Family Wedding”

Sure, it relies on tired tropes and a series of forced and unfunny gags, but the fact that Carlos Mencia doesn’t totally derail “Our Family Wedding” has to be considered a win for this fairly good-natured film.

Painfully unfunny comic Mencia keeps the mugging to a minimum, restrained perhaps by the much more imposing screen presence of Forest Whitaker.

Both play fathers surprised by the upcoming nuptials of their children to each other (America Ferrera, Lance Gross). Whitaker is the permissive single dad who’s bedding ladies the same age as his son’s fiancée, while Mencia gets the overprotective role.

A trio of screenwriters paints the characters’ differences in broad strokes, giving the film ample opportunity to trot out lazy ethnic stereotypes and seek to wedge in some class conflict too, despite both seemingly occupying some segment of the moderately affluent middle class.

The formula is well trodden, and the less-common permutation of a black family and a Mexican one doesn’t make it any more surprising when everyone discovers that they’re not so different after all.

The culture clash material seems fresh pinned up against wedding cake gags and a Viagra-eating goat, but when the film settles down to its inevitable ending, it’s hard to hold anything against it. Were you expecting irreconcilability in a romantic comedy?

Ferrera and Gross have solid chemistry as the altruistic young couple, and Whitaker shows himself to be passable with comedic material. Moviegoers looking for an artificially induced half-smile in fewer than 90 minutes should be satisfied.

“She’s Out of My League”

Spectacularly unfunny, “She’s Out of My League” wants desperately to be taken seriously as an Apatow-style comic extravaganza, but it lacks just about everything to get there.

Star Jay Baruchel sort of has the pedigree — he played the awkward, Canadian roommate in “Knocked Up” — but the rest of the production has a relentlessly amateur quality, from the dingy photography to the jokes that seem tailor-made for 30-second commercial spots.

Baruchel stars as Kirk, a TSA agent who has a chance encounter with gorgeous blonde Molly (Alice Eve). She takes a seemingly inexplicable interest in him, much to the disbelief of Kirk’s misfit band of friends (T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel, Nate Torrence). As they see it, she’s a hard 10 — perfect in every way — while he’s at best a 5.

Still, she continues to enthusiastically date him, undeterred by Kirk’s hick family (the inimitable Debra Jo Rupp is wasted as his mother) and his psycho ex (Lindsay Sloane). Of course, there’s the possibility it might all be too good to be true.

Eve is appealingly cute as Molly and Baruchel has a modest amount of geeky charm, but there’s not enough there to make for a convincing romantic comedy. The film’s only hope lies in its raunchy humor, which consistently falls flat on its face. There’s not a single memorable sequence that could drive the film into sleeper-hit territory, even though there are attempts involving pube shaving and pants jizzing.

“She’s Out of My League” is nowhere near a 10; it’s not even a 5. A ticket to it means you’re settling.