Not Forgotten

This screening that people are talking about was actually a TEST screening, not an advance screening... aka, it's a TEST to see what people like and don't like, and then they fix things... as for the music, what we heard during the test was actually temporary music. I heard a rumor that Mark Isham (Crash, River Run Trough It, etc) is doing the music for Not forgotten, so that should be pretty great....

I would DEFINITELY recommend this movie. Personally, I thought it had some really great twists and turns, and had a really cool dark feel to it, and a fascinating view of the dark underbelly of Mexico's low lives...Seriously, I did not see the ending coming at ALL. If I had to compare it to something, I would say it's like "Traffic" meets "A History of Violence". Oh, and obviously, Paz Vega's really hot.

In Del Rio, in the border of Texas and Mexico, the female teen-soccer coach Jack Bishop (Simon Baker) is very popular and he loves his eleven year-old daughter Toby (Chloe Moretz) and her stepmother Amaya (Paz Vegas). When Toby is kidnapped, Amaya's cousin, the rookie Sheriff Casper Navarro (Michael DeLorenzo), is in charge of the investigation, but sooner the FBI arrives in town to lead the hunt. However, Navarro and Jack travel to Mexico following a lead and the hidden past of Jack returns to haunt him.

"Not Forgotten" is an intriguing thriller that uses the mysticism of the Mexican cult "La Santa Muerte" and has a promising beginning. The cast has names like Paz Vega and Simon Baker in the lead roles and Claire Forlani with a minor participation. Unfortunately the resolution of the original story is simply awful and messy, wasting all the potentiality of the plot with a terrible conclusion. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Regresso do Além" ("Return From Beyond")

I don't care how bad the reviews are, the chance to see Paz Vega (Sex and Lucia, Spanglish, The Other Side of the Bed) means I will watch it.

As a bonus it has Claire Forlani from Meet Joe Black. I like her, too.

We are treated to violent flashbacks, gratuitous nudity from strippers and prostitutes and vaguely supernatural facial distortions in an attempt to distract us from the bad acting and bad script.

Similar to Taken, it also has elements of A History of Violence. Of course, come may recall Eyes Wide Shut at certain points. In other words, there is nothing original as this film is capitalizing on Simon Baker's popularity as The Mentalist.

Jack/Roberto is not the only one with a secret.

I thought Not Forgotten had a very cleverly crafted story. It didn't just rely on scary music to keep you in suspense; rather the story with its dark, creepy rituals (I don't want to give it away!!) made me more nervous and scared than anything. Paz Vega and Simon Baker both gave excellent performances (in addition to being extremely pleasing on the eyes… ladies, there are a couple of scenes with Simon Baker without a shirt—don't say I didn't warn you! And I'm sure the guys would agree with me that Paz Vega has never looked better).

The end has a really surprising twist. If the rumors about a sequel are true, then count me in. I would love to see part II!

I went to preview screening at 20th century Fox and I would say this is a solid thriller along the lines of "8 mm"… As an audience member, I was intrigued right up until the very last line (which totally creeped me out, by the way). There's a MAJOR twist that I really didn't see coming; at that point, I realized this was no ordinary thriller. Paz Vega's performance is awesome--- maybe one of her best ever (I'm biased though; I think she's fantastic). Very subtle—she really draws you in. And Simon Baker is a great match for her.

In short: if you like smart, suspenseful, creative, original movies, see this movie.