The Forgotten Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)September 24th, 2004
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If you've seen the trailer for Joseph Ruben's The Forgotten, you still don't really have a clue what it's all about. I thought I had the whole thing figured out after seeing the preview a few times, but was way off. Waaay off. That's a nice surprise, but it doesn't necessarily make The Forgotten that strong of a picture. I guess the word I'd choose to use to describe the X Files-slash-The Twilight Zone flick would be "interesting."
Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore, Laws of Attraction) is the still-grieving mother of a kid who died in a plane crash 14 months ago. Or is she? With virtually no setup (thankfully - we're talking about a lean 96 minutes here), the people around Telly seem convinced her child never existed. They - her husband (Anthony Edwards), shrink (Gary Sinise), and neighbor (The Wire's Dominic West) - explain that Telly lost her baby during delivery, and has a bizarre psychological disorder in which she has developed a secret life where little Sam grew into a regular kid who never really exist.
So far, so good. I figured we were ready to embark on a trip where Telly fought an uphill battle to convince those around her that Sam really did exist. It'd be a tough struggle, but it's one that Denzel does in just about every film he's ever made, so it's not impossible. The Forgotten, however, takes us on a very different journey. One that I'm not going to talk about in detail here, lest I ruin any surprises. I will say this: I jumped out of my seat three times. Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting The Forgotten to offer the jumpy. The film also includes what might be the greatest and most unexpected disappearance of a black character since that shark gobbled up Samuel L. Jackson in Deep Blue Sea.
The Forgotten might play better if you have kids, or you're the kind of jackal who dresses your pets in cute little outfits. I fall into neither category, and felt kind of blah about the movie.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
