Ah modern cinema woman – she has evolved from “hooker with the heart of gold” to “ex-con with the heart of gold.” Such an upgrade. In the past, the parolee on a murder charge could only be played by a man. You’ve come a long way, baby! Now you can be ostracized for completely different moral reasons!
Kenna (Maika Monroe) was pregnant when she went to jail. That was seven years ago. Why was she in jail? I’m going to guess “Involuntary Manslaughter,” but I can’t believe you get 15-to-life, parole-after-7-for-good-behavior for such. But to say I have a problem with the premise is not the biggest issue in this film. We will get to that.
Did Kenna try to kill her boyfriend? Did Kenna mean to kill her boyfriend? Of course not, squared. She loved the guy; they had a car accident. She survived. I’m not going to go into details, but geez, did you get the hangin’ judge? Are you an illegal who got the MAGA treatment? Cuz those seem like the only way I can see how extenuating circumstances would not play a role here.
The town is Laramie, Wyoming, and the bookstore (!) Kenna and Scotty used to frequent is now a bar, tended by Ledger (Tyriq Withers), who literally exists to even the score, to balance the ledger if you will. Think his name is “Ledger” by accident? Ha! Ledger, a former NFL player, is one of those guys who only exists in movies. He’s clean, responsible, dreamy, single, and just happens to live across from Scotty’s parents, Laren Graham and Bradley Whitford.
Oh, but it gets better! Scotty’s parents are the legal guardians of Kenna’s daughter, and Ledger just happens to be the unofficial surrogate father to Kenna’s child. So Kenna gets out of prison and comes looking for the child she no longer has any rights to. Scotty’s parents want her to go away and never return, but Ledger is more sympathetic to Kenna … and he’s attracted to her … and Ledger was Scotty’s best friend.
I bet you cannot guess what’s gonna happen.
Actually, I bet you can.
The problem with Reminders of Him is that everything is too simple. Kenna has a troubled past, but she’s really a wonderful human being and carries no spite with her. Ledger is the ultimate catch, but he’s so protective of everyone around him that he hasn’t had time to settle down. Scotty’s 
parents are awful to Kenna, but they’re not really awful people; they just don’t see the good in the woman they blame for their son’s death. And, of course, Kenna’s six-year-old daughter is perfection itself. This all is really enough to make one gag over and over and over.
Did I buy the romance or the relationships? Not really. It’s all too neat. Too pat. Are we really saying that a mother isn’t entitled to see her daughter? Is that really a legitimate opposition these days? Of course we’re going to be drawn to the heroine; there’s just too much of an injustice not to be. And there is great catharsis when the inevitable happens. But I’m not happy about it. I find this film oversimplified, misleading, and deliberately skewed to a prefabricated outcome. If you’ve never seen more than a dozen films in your life, sure, this might make your day and stay in your heart forever. But if you really want to see what a woman jailed for murder becomes and what an ex-NFL bartender/single man is genuinely like, these portraits are rose-colored at best, and flat-out lies at worst.
There once was a woman named Kenna
Who did time in the local state penna
She challenged, with strife
To reclaim her life
The god of forgiveness has an antenna
Rated PG-13, 114 Minutes
Director: Vanessa Caswill
Writer: Colleen Hoover, Lauren Levine
Genre: Things that didn’t happen, but seemed kinda nice
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who like complex stories told simply
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Appreciators of nuance
