WARNING: This review contains some spoilers. Regardless, I recommend you read this review and skip seeing the film.
It has been said that viewers can usually decide if they like a film or not after the first ten minutes of its running time. In the case of The Forgotten, all is well within the first ten, but then again, you may find yourself just as impressed with the main character’s home furnishings as the early-established plot. Regrettably, once the train gets rolling, The Forgotten soon derails.
With the premise: a mother grieves over her lost son, and everyone she confides in (including her husband) tells her she never even had a baby, The Forgotten may sound like it’s a fresh and intriguing motion-picture. And, with an equally absorbing trailer, The Forgotten may appear just as promising as it sounds. However, due to its stiff screenplay and unclear ending, it turns out to be nothing more than an insipid piece of work in the fashion of a so-so episode of “The X-Files.”
It has been 14 months since Telly Paretta lost her son Sam in a plane crash, and she still remembers him every day of her being. Each day for at least an hour she goes into his room, pulls a few of his belongings (a baseball glove, a New York Mets cap, etc.) from his dresser drawer, and grieves. To help with her daily grieving, she sees a psychiatrist (Gary Sinese) who attempts to alleviate some of her distress over the unbearable loss. However, with her son always on her mind, nothing comforts her. She can’t let go of Sam; she can't forget him like everyone else has.
Suddenly, every remnant of Sam - including photos of him and all of his personal possessions - has been obliterated. To the common world, Sam does not exist; only in Telly’s mind does any memory of Sam linger. Telly is told that there never was a Sam, and that nine years ago she had a miscarriage. There is no proof of Sam's existence to be found other than in Telly’s own head. Is she crazy? Or is there a conspiracy behind the death of her son? With the help of Ash (Dominic West), another parent who comes to remember his child (under Telly’s convincing) when no one else does, Telly hopes to get to the bottom of both of their child’s deaths and figure out how both of them could be completely wiped out of everyone's memory except for theirs’. Is the government to blame, or is an incomprehensible power?
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Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
I was disappointed with this movie as well, especially the ending, but I did like the camera angles. I thought that they actually contributed to the suspense in parts, and seemed to be intended to give us an alien's-eye view of things.
Er, so to speak. :-)
2 - Krasimir [FilmDailies.com]
Julianne Moore is OK I guess but the movie is mediocre at best.