The Forgotten Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)October 18th, 2004
THE FORGOTTEN (2004)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Viewed on October 8th, 2004
RATING: One star and a half
The electrifying Julianne Moore and director Joseph Ruben should have been able to make a terrifically suspenseful psychological thriller. Moore, one of the most charismatic and honest of all major league actresses, can make your jaw drop with her acute sensitivity and ball-of-fire emotions. Director Ruben may not have a great track record since his underrated "The Stepfather" but he's probably just in search of a good story to tell. "The Forgotten" is not it but, boy, does it have a solid beginning.
Julianne Moore plays Telly Paretta, a married book editor who longs for her dead son. Her son apparently died in a plane accident, and Telly, day after day, touches her son's belongings such as a baseball glove. One day she notices that her son has disappeared from her framed family photos, including photo albums. She suspects her husband (thanklessly played by Anthony Edwards) has removed the pictures but he denies ever having a son with her - he was apparently stillborn (and so is Edwards). Even Telly's good-natured, understanding psychiatrist (an even more thankless role played by Gary Sinise) denies that she ever had a son - he's been waiting for her moment of realization. Is there a conspiracy or is Telly suffering from a mental illness where she invents people in her life who don't exist?
The idea that someone can imagine or invent a person or persons is an idea worthy for a film. Instead, the filmmakers opt for a series of deux ex machinas that trivialize the story and aim for maximum stupidity and unrealistic coincidences and occurrences that only happen in the movies. How the story changes its tune I won't say except that you'll feel cheated that the screenwriters didn't trust their own source material.
Julianne Moore does the best she can, looking as glamorous and beautiful as in those Revlon ads. She is not, however, given the freedom to really engage her emotions - by the end, she is more disenchanted and detached than the character should be. The rest of the cast is an embarrassment, including Alfre Woodard as a cop who distrusts the NSA (National Security Agency) who is after Telly. Woodard, who gave memorable performances in "Passion Fish" and "Grand Canyon," simply exists to utter mediocre dialogue and then drift away. Like all the other actors, they are wooden logs that are flung about without any rhyme or reason.
Director Joseph Ruben does know how to shock and move an audience, and it happens in one fleeting instance. There is a car crash scene that is unsettling and will make you rock back and forth in your theatre seat. But such a moment means nothing other than to keep the audience awake. Such car crashes were more effective in films like "Adaptation" and "Punch Drunk Love." Here, it is nothing more than an attempt to make the audience believe they are seeing something new.
I can't say much more about "The Forgotten" without giving away crucial details. The preview makes this look like the latest endeavor by M. Night Shyamalan. You will not just forget "The Forgotten," you just won't care to remember.
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