The Forgotten Movie Review:


What was that?

That is basically what audiences will be saying as they exit the theatre after witnessing director Joseph Ruben’s thriller “The Forgotten” which stars Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore.

Moore stars as Telly Paretta, a grieving mother who is trying to cope with the death of her young son Sam after a horrific plane crash. Telly’s daily ritual of remembering her son, including keeping his room intact, frustrates her husband, Jim (Anthony Edwards). Telly’s long coping sessions with her psychiatrist Dr. Jack Munce (Gary Sinise) also doesn’t seem to be helping.

One day when Telly decides to make a special dinner for her husband she witnesses the most peculiar thing. The Paretta family picture has changed and now it is missing Sam. Telly is horrified and immediately blames Jim for messing with her memories. Is Telly going insane? What would Jim accomplish by fooling his wife? Is there something bigger and more sinister going on?

Director Joseph Ruben of 1991’s “Sleeping with the Enemy” and 1993’s “The Good Son” knows about thrillers and the dynamics that make them work. He also knows how to get performances from his lead actors. It isn’t surprising that Ruben relies a lot on the strength and displayed emotion of Moore. The film relies so heavily on this that she overpowers co-stars Edwards, Sinise and Dominic West. Because she is so powerful it is difficult for the audience to get confused to believe anyone but Moore.

By the end of the 30 minute mark, “The Forgotten” has completely given up on the idea that the lead character is going insane and it practically becomes a given. Then the film falls apart.

What is left is sort of a hybrid between a really spooky and disjointed episode of the “X-Files” and a really awful episode of “The Outer Limits”. Do you remember any episodes of “The Outer Limits”?

The episodes I am referring to are the ones where the stories setup a beautiful premise, give us some intrigue, drop some spooky language and then wrap-up without explaining a single, solitary thing. “The Forgotten” is just one of those episodes except it’s 90-minutes and stars Julianne Moore.

After watching the trailer and really getting excited about seeing this film, the film ended up being just one big tease without the justifiable payoff. Hopefully I will have forgotten about this film by the time you read this.

(1.5 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

I often think someone is playing tricks with my mind – why else would our local community schedule Octoberfest in September? Or school start before Labor Day? Or Antonio Banderas fail to get the lead in the movie version of Phantom of the Opera? However, Julianne Moore’s character faces much more serious mind games in “The Forgotten,” a film that starts out like a psychological thriller and ends up with a sci-fi punch that almost knocked me out of my theater seat.

Moore (“Far from Heaven”) sinks her teeth into the role of Telly Paretta, a mother who’s told she never had the son she’s been mourning since his death in an airplane crash. According to her husband (Anthony Edwards) and her shrink (Gary Sinise), she’s delusional. But Telly knows better – even if all the pictures of Sam (Christopher Kovalesh) have disappeared. After contacting the father (Dominic West) of a little girl who died in the same plane crash, Telly can’t believe he denies ever having a daughter. She helps him remember, and the two join forces to find out who is intent on erasing memories of their children and why.

Despite its mystery, thriller and sci-fi trappings, above all, “The Forgotten” emerges as a tribute to the strength of a mother’s love and courage. Like Kim Basinger’s character in “Cellular,” Moore’s “Telly” comes across as a mother not to be messed with. Moore’s big eyes become a pool of tears one moment and steely circles of determination in another. Too bad she mumbles so much of her dialogue. Fortunately, it’s easy to read Moore’s expressive face, so I did have some idea of she was saying throughout the film.

Because of the nature of the story, director Joseph Ruben (“Sleeping with the Enemy”) might have been tempted to fill the movie with dark scenes that make it difficult for viewers to tell what’s happening. Thankfully, the film includes only a few hard-to-see sequences – and some shots even appear downright artistic, such as when Moore looks up at a strange cloud formation. Granted, the house her character lives exudes a dreary and depressing aura, but that helps viewers get a better feel for this mother’s somber mood at the beginning of the movie.

Written by Gerald di Pego (“Angel Eyes”),”The Forgotten” creates a rich atmosphere of suspense and mystery. Still, a few things in the story don’t hang together. Explaining them would spoil the movie for you – so just be prepared for a couple of plot holes big enough to land a flying saucer in. Nevertheless, this is a well-filmed movie that elicits interest and curiosity from beginning to end. Don’t forget to see it.

Betty Jo Tucker

Fourteen months after the death of her son Sam in a plane crash, Telly (Moore) is still having trouble coming to terms with her loss. Her therapist Dr. Jack Munce (Sinise) doesn’t seem to be helping and her husband Jim (Edwards) isn’t doing enough to help. Things don’t get any better when she discovers that every picture and video of Sam is missing from her house. Frantic, she confronts her husband who tells her they never had a son and she has been suffering from delusions since she had a miscarriage nine years earlier. Desperate to prove that she is not losing her mind she sets out to find proof that Sam did in fact exist.

As movies with a twist become more and more common place in Hollywood, can The Forgotten’s twists and turns keep you intrigued? Yes they can.

‘The Forgotten’ takes an interesting psychological premise about the construction and recall of memories and then mixes in an element that you might not be expecting. For some this might be a bit too far fetched but due to the quality of the direction and the acting. The film is approached with great integrity and very seriously, as it could have so easily have fell into melodrama.

Key to the success of the movie is the performance of Julianne Moore. She is arguably one of the best actresses working today and always creates believable characters. As Telly, she is a determined woman who is in almost every scene in the film, driving the story. Through her you see the story unfold and it is Moore’s talent that draws you into her character’s plight. There are very few actresses that can hold your attention so intensely and is what makes The Forgotten work.

While this is a movie all about the performance of Julianne Moore, her support is also very good. Brit actor Dominic West is starting to make a name for himself States side with another memorable performance. He plays Ash Correll another parent that has mysteriously lost a child, portraying the emotion of this realisation extremely well. Anthony Edwards has a small part as Telly’s husband Jim, as he makes the transition back into movies after many a year in the ER. Gary Sinise is also good as therapist Dr. Jack Munce but he doesn’t have enough screen time. The same can be said about Linus Roache but his role is pivotal to the story.

Director Joseph Rubin knows how to get the best out of his actors and treats the story with enough respect to not let it fall in farce. With subject matter like this it could have been so easy for the director to let the story run away with itself and become too far fetched for the viewer to take seriously. While the conclusion might not be what you are expecting from the beginning, Joseph keeps his cards very close to his chest, only revealing parts of his hand when he deems it necessary until he lays down all his cards during the finale. The look of the movie is also very good. He creates a grey and black filled pallet for his New York setting that only injects radiant colour when Telly is remembering Sam in her memories. This works really well and fills the picture with a bleak foreboding of what is to come.

The Forgotten is a twisty, turny thriller that will keep you guessing until the end. With excellent performances and its own unique look, this is a movie that will get you talking and won’t be that easy to forget.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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