The Forgotten

This is better than average sci-fi, with a nice serving of mystery thrown in the pot as well. Add ingredients like good actress Julianne Moore (who is always hot), and a decent supporting cast, good special effects; and any parent who is sympathetic to having their child kidnapped (all of us?), and you have a guaranteed success. The pacing of this film is very interesting. It starts very slowly; and some may actually tune out before the plot unravels. Be patient. It does speed up. Better to have a film speed up in the middle until the end, rather than the other way around. There are enough duds that start off with a bang, and then leave us grasping for straws. This is not one of them. See it. And no, it is not really an X-Files or Twilight Zone episode; it can stand on its own.

Yeah sure I'll be in the minority a lot of people bash The Forgotten not me it's the perfect amount of weird! The kind of movie that makes me wanna say wtf in a good way; definitely some X-Files Esq. Julianne Moore did an extraordinary performance! Oh man the alternate ending is effed up the way it should've been.

First, if it's not already too late, please avoid the trailers, and I recommend watching the extended version with the alternate version. Why? One of the best surprises is spoiled in the trailer (lesser ones too) and the alternate ending is arguably better, definitely less simple and Hollywood-like despite the same final result. So, this was a very good thriller with an excellent concept I don't remember seeing done anywhere before in TV or film. What if your kid died in an accident but months later you were told by everyone he never existed? I appreciated how the subject was explored and how gradually that revelation and others were made. Is our mother delusional or is there something else going on? Of course, an option is more likely than the other, but the journey was suspenseful. At several moments in the film, there was an escalation of events that raised the stakes and made things more interesting and disturbing.

However, this thriller succeeds in part because it's grounded emotionally by Julianne Moore's intense performance. I felt for her ordeal and to be that believable, it's obvious she really is a mother who loves children. Of course, most mothers wouldn't be such great actresses. ;-) The other performances were decent and didn't detract. The directing also helped matters as the veteran Joseph Ruben obviously knows this genre. I appreciated the overhead shots, shots through obstacles and windows implying that our heroine might be observed. It wasn't the flashiest shots but they were well done. Of particular note to me were the accident and the captures, rather effective and shocking. I also liked how the color schemes differed from warm golden in flashbacks to cold bluish in the present. So, very neat "Twilight Zone" concept aptly executed with a great female lead. Your appreciation might depend on how open-minded you are, but for a critical cynic like me, I wasn't taken out by stupid behavior or illogical crap.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10 (very good)

Telly Paretta is seeing a shrink as therapy for losing her son in a plane crash, only she never had a son but is convinced she had. All the people in her life don't remember Sam including her husband. When she confronts the alcoholic fathers of another child from the flight they set out to discover the truth and the truth is "out there".

Part X-Files and part Lifetime movie of the week, "The Forgotten" seems to really channel Chris Carter's hit TV show, look it even has a redhead. The story is interesting and Julianne Moore's performance is sincere but you can't help but think that something is missing. The clever twist is good but they could have easily expanded the storyline and made it more "something".

Good but not great, "The Forgotten" seems to lack its own identity due to the derivative nature of the storyline which needed a bit of assistance from Fox Mulder.

Screenwriter Gerald Di Pego comes up with an interesting new slant on a well-trodden movie idea: grieving woman is obsessed with the child she lost to a plane crash, and refuses to accept it when her husband, neighbor, and psychiatrist all tell her he never existed. Conspiracy thriller with science-fiction overtures steps a little bit into "Close Encounters" territory, but manages to hold the viewer with strong individual scenes and a lovely, matter-of-fact lead performance by Julianne Moore. However, the editing goes slack by the film's midsection, with Moore constantly on the run and Di Pego's script scrambling to explain itself whilst keeping the audience in suspense. It's a gambit which doesn't quite pay off. Supporting characters played by Anthony Edwards and Alfre Woodard are unceremoniously shafted, while the tepid final act (more running) leaves a bushel of unanswered questions and unrealized ideas behind. The chilly cinematography (grayish blues and whites) is artsy and distracting, and the overall result smacks of too many cooks. **1/2 from ****