Could The Title Be Any More Appropriate?
The Forgotten
Starring Julianne Moore, Dominic West and Anthony Edwards
Directed by Joseph Ruben
Written by Gerald Di Pego
Sony
I saw the PG-rated pseudo sci-fi chiller The Forgotten during its theatrical spin on a Friday night and almost came to blows with a noisy gaggle of post-pubescent teenie weenies sitting in front of me. After I laid down the black leather law with the bothersome brats, they eventually quieted the **** down and I realized their incessant yammering was probably more entertaining than the woefully wrongheaded film onscreen. Yup, The Forgotten, though not an outright bad movie, is yet another frustrating example of a Hollywood film that simply lacks the courage of its convictions.
It’s a damn shame because the movie begins beautifully: housewife Telly (the ravishing Julianne Moore) is still reeling over the death of her young son when something right out of The Twilight Zone happens – all evidence that the kid ever existed is mysteriously erased. Even her husband (Pet Semetary 2’s Anthony Edwards) denies they ever had a child. Just as Telly begins to believe that she is indeed losing her marbles, she and hunky co-star Dominic West stumble across evidence of a cover up. It seems someone or something is messing with the minds of mankind, removing people and memories of said people from the face of the earth. Is Telly’s son actually still alive somewhere? Are malevolent aliens involved? Is ET’s finger glowing? Damn straight!
What starts as a tense, paranoid supernatural psychological nail-biter, stylishly set up by director Joseph Ruben (The Stepfather), quickly devolves into yet another lame-*** chase picture, with Matrix-y G-Men running all over town trying to put the kibosh on Telly’s desperate investigation. Along the way there are a number of jolts but by the time the big, stupid, completely ridiculous excuse for a climax rolls round you’ll have long ceased to care. The film’s saving grace? The luminous Moore, who is so good, so convincing and such a genuinely attractive actor, that you can’t keep your eyes off her – when they’re not rolled back in your disbelieving brain that is.
Chris Alexander