Review of The Forgotten (2004) by C.r. L — 05 Apr 2010

What if someone told you that your child never existed that it was all just apart of your imagination that you dreamed up a happy life, with a happy little boy/girl. Then one day you wake up and that child is suddenly forgotten pictures, videos, friends everyone who knew your child suddenly has forgotten that he/she ever existed. Joseph Ruben's "The Forgotten" explores themes relating to the above statement, Ruben's film tells the story of a grieving mother named Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) who fourteen months ago lost her nine-year-old son Sam in a plane crash and every day she goes to her and looks at his precious baseball cap and catcher?s mitt. One day she wakes up and finds that a photo of her, Sam and her husband Jim (Anthony Edwards) been replaced with a photo of just her and Jim, and then home movies of Sam are suddenly blank. Soon her Husband, Her psychiatrist (Gary Sinise), her neighbors soon have no recollection of there ever being a Sam Paretta. Telly soon sets out to find if her son really existed or if it all was just an illusion.

Joseph Ruben's "The Forgotten? is a well thought out but poorly executed Sci-Fi mystery with a premise that at times is so ludicrous you can barely take this film seriously. it at times feels like a poorly constructed Twilight Zone episode all it is missing is Rod Sterling creepy prologue monologue and a black and white opening with the Twilight zone theme. I felt lost at times and at others I felt like this film was trying to be the new "Matrix", so to speak, it had that type of feel to it like it was ripping off two great sci-Fi titans and that just pulled me even further from the story the film was trying to tell. Don't get me wrong I liked the ideas the film has and I also like the premise of the film but it felt distant, emotionless and bland I felt nothing for the characters and the fact they lost there children; it was like the film was trying, on purpose. To make you distance yourself from the characters and from the situation at hand. That is where this film fails. It strings you along for a 1hr. 31mis until this big twist ending that is not so much of a stretch to figure out ?The Forgotten" is a SyFy channel T.V. movie with little to nothing to offer.

There times in this movie that you will feel for the characters and then there are times that you just want the characters to be forgotten, this film to be forgotten and in all ways this film is a very forgettable ride that offers nothing more beyond the standard thrills and no chills. Even though it has a very believable victim (Julianne Moore), Moore cannot save the film from the hell that is underwhelming Science Fiction. However, the credit must be given where it is due, she does try her hardest but she fails to deliver when her true talent is needed. ?The Forgotten? works to entertain but only for a little while.

Julianne Moore is a fantastic actress she has done some fine films that are instantly recognizable; "Boogie Nights"(1997), "The Hours""(2002),? Far from Heaven"(2002). However, here I feel like she took this film solely for the gig as if she did not have any other better films to do. I liked her in this but I felt like she was not trying, as if she was being held back by something. In any case, Moore fails to impress or even convince us of her grief for her lost son it is just her for 1 hr. 31min of her running around yelling at people and screaming, "Where is my son?? "Do you know my son??Do you remember my son?" it becomes too repetitive and annoying for any audience member to take seriously. Moore has done better, much better and while there are some times she is good in this film those moments are not frequent enough for a persuasive performance. Moore falls flat on her face. The rest of the cast including Christopher Kovaleski, Jessica Hecht, Dominic West, Gary Sinise and Linus Roache they all deliver poor performances (Roache being the exception) in a film that blows your mind with its blandness and poor execution.

"The Forgotten" has the perfect title to describe this films dull and contrived story as soon as it's over and you move on to something else you complete forget that you ever saw this film and when you see a glimpse of it and remember your thankful that you forgot in the first place. It's not good entertainment, hell it's not entertainment at all it's just people running from other people and a twist ending you figure out in the first twenty minutes of the film, "The Forgotten" is ultimately forgettable.