Movie Review

Reminders of Him blends trauma and romance in slight but effective story

Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers in Reminders of HIm.

Photo by Michelle Faye / Universal Pictures

Texas author Colleen Hoover has gone from being a popular writer to a full-on celebrity in the 2020s, with the new film Reminders of Him marking the third adaptation of her books in just 19 months (a fourth, Verity, is scheduled for release in October 2026). All of her books that have been adapted so far - most notably It Ends With Us - are female-led stories that feature elements of romance and trauma, catnip for studios looking to appeal to the underserved demographic of women.

Leading the way in this film is Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe), who returns to her hometown of Laramie, Wyoming after spending years in prison for killing her boyfriend, Scotty (Rudy Pankow), in a car accident. That relationship resulted in a daughter, Diem (Zoe Kosovic), whom Kenna gave birth to while imprisoned and is now being raised by her grandparents, Patrick (Bradley Whitford) and Grace (Lauren Graham).

Yearning to be a part of Diem’s life, Kenna tries to reconnect with Patrick and Grace, only to be rebuffed by Scotty’s best friend, Ledger (Tyriq Withers), a former NFL player who now owns a local bar. In running interference, Ledger starts to become closer to Kenna, discovering that her tragic mistake shouldn’t be the only thing that defines her.

Directed by Vanessa Caswill and written by Lauren Levine, the film features mostly surface level examinations of its themes and average performances, yet it winds up being effective thanks to a willingness not to rush through its storytelling beats. The filmmakers take the slow and steady approach toward the coupling of Kenna and Ledger, setting up their bond through a series of heart-to-heart conversations that makes any romance feel earned.

The majority of the focus is on Kenna reclaiming her place in the world, and on Ledger coming to terms with the fact that the person who killed his best friend is not inherently a bad person. The film definitely could have gone deeper in its explorations of grief and anger, but the sheer amount of time it takes in addressing the characters’ doubts and fears turns out to be sufficient for a film that’s not aiming to be considered a dramatic masterpiece.

It also helps that Caswill and Levine do a solid job of establishing the variety of characters that inhabit the film. Kenna and Ledger don’t always feel like fully-formed people, but they become so through their interactions with each other and the other townspeople. Lady Diana (Monika Myers), a girl with Down syndrome who lives in Kenna’s apartment complex, and Roman (Nicholas Duvernay), Ledger’s co-worker at his bar, help to broaden the appeal of the two leads.

Monroe has, to this point, been best known for starring roles in horror films like It Follows and Longlegs. While she does somewhat well in this role, her delivery is often more flat than you’d expect for a character going through what she does. Withers thankfully doesn’t remind viewers of his recent bomb Him, demonstrating a crossover appeal that should serve him well in the future. Whitford and Graham don’t get to do much, but their combined experience gives their roles exactly what is needed.

It may sound like damning with faint praise, but Reminders of Him is a competently made film that knows how to serve its core audience without insulting anyone who may not automatically be all-in for such a story. The filmmakers don’t try to force any of the key moments down the audience’s throat, and that stands out in a genre that’s not always known for its subtlety.

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Reminders of Him opens in theaters on March 13.

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Credit score

Shaquille O'Neal to school SMU students about money before DJing at campus

Courtesy photo

Shaquille O'Neal is going on tour to teach college students about financial credit.

Shaquille O’Neal is going back to school to teach about a subject he now knows well - money. The NBA legend, entrepreneur, philanthropist, sports analyst, and DJ is hitting the road to colleges around the country on a tour called the Credit One Bank Credit Tip Off Tour , starting at SMU’s Moody Coliseum on Monday, September 14.

According to a release, the free event will include a conversation about credit and a live DJ set from O’Neal, better known behind the turntables as DJ Diesel.

But it is not open to the public. Attendance is limited to just 500 enrolled SMU students, who must register for tickets.

O’Neal will be joined at SMU by Credit One Bank Chief Marketing Officer Michael Coleman. Sports creator and host Jenna Bandy will moderate the conversation.

The tour is designed to give college students practical information about building credit and avoiding common mistakes, the release says. Each event will include interactive games and activities before O’Neal takes over as DJ Diesel.

“Credit education isn’t often taught in school, so we built this tour with Shaquille O’Neal to help close that gap and empower young people to make informed credit decisions,” says Michael Coleman, Chief Marketing Officer at Credit One Bank, in the release. “As the brand that believes in forward momentum, we’re meeting students where they are to kick-start their credit education in a memorable, engaging way and help set them up for a successful financial future.”

The tour will address basics such as making payments on time, credit utilization, credit history, and credit mix. It will also feature the Credit Wreckers, a group of characters representing common credit mistakes, including Miss Payment, Max Out, Cancelina, and One Track Jack.

O’Neal says he learned about credit through his own mistakes and hopes to pass those lessons along to younger people.

“I’m always learning, I never stop,” O’Neal says in the release. “I learned credit the hard way. Nobody broke it down for me back then. Now I’ve got kids in college, kids right out of it, and I want them starting smarter than I did. That’s what the Credit One Bank Credit Tip Off Tour is about. And yeah, we’re still going to have fun.”

SMU is a natural place for the tour to start. O’Neal has lived part-time in the Dallas area since 2022, when he bought a $1.2 million Carrollton mansion. He sold it for $1.7 million and moved into his current 5,100 square-foot, approximately $2 million Rockwall County estate in 2024.

Since then, sightings of the megastar abound around Dallas-Fort Worth. In Mesquite in 2024, he treated 20 students to $500 shopping sprees at JCPenney. On another occasion he gave a $500 gift card to a couple he met at Fort Worth’s JCPenney, which they paid forward to children in need. And earlier this year at the Rockwall Target, he distributed $100 bills to shoppers at random. He's also behind the Big Chicken restaurant franchise, whose Fort Worth location recently closed.

In early July, a video of O'Neal cruising a Dallas lake in custom '64 Chevy Impala boat went viral.

After SMU, the tour will head to Georgia State University on October 23, Fred’s Bar in Baton Rouge on November 6, and Florida Atlantic University on November 9.

O’Neal’s tour is being produced by Medium Rare, the team behind events including Shaq’s Fun House, Travis Kelce’s Kelce Jam, and Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Fest.

The SMU event is free and open to 500 enrolled students. Registration is available through the Credit Tip Off Tour website.

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