The hunky, sweet hero in the new romantic drama "Reminders of Him" at one point turns to the movie's heroine and tells her: "I'm starting to wonder if you're the saddest girl I've never met." It's hard to argue. First, she's a penniless former prison inmate who has returned to her small town of Laramie, Wisconsin, where she's hooking up with her former boyfriend's best friend. Second, that boyfriend is dead and she's been blamed, hence the prison sentence. Plus, she's hoping to connect with her estranged daughter, born of tragedy. There's a lot going on with Kenna Rowan, who can't afford a phone or a car and so walks everywhere around the town, lives in a run-down motel and can't initially get a job because she's a felon. She hates listening to the radio because all the songs are sad. Pot calling the kettle, right? "Reminders of Him" is very faithful to Colleen Hoover's 2022 novel of the same name, right down to slices of the same dialogue and even the Mountain Dew T-shirt, jean shorts and boots our heroine is first introduced in. She finally gets a job as a grocery bagger and starts building a life, biding her time until she figures out how to reconnect with her daughter. Maika Monroe — a one-time scream queen — stretches out her dramatic muscles to play Kenna and nails the assignment, a woman with a hard shell who is looking for a little grace, a tricky role that's both flirty and maternal. After seven years in prison, Kenna walks into a fraught situation. Her 5-year-old daughter — yeah, the math is a bit hazy here — is being raised by her dead boyfriend's parents, with an assist from his best friend, Ledger, played with real soul by Tyriq Withers. Kenna's mere presence threatens to blow up this cozy arrangement. What's remarkable about... Read More