Forgetting the Girl

As I write this there are 10 reviews. Typically when the count is this low the positive reviews are shills from the cast or production staff trying to drive traffic to the theaters or rental markets.

Assume this now, this movie is just terrible. Bone achingly slow and contrived, I was forced by an uncontrollable urge in my lizard brain to fast forward to the end to ease the boredom.

Ignore any review that promises "plot twists." There is one. One twist and it has no relevance to the story other than to make it more pathetic. I knew exactly what was going to happen.

When there are dozens or hundreds of reviews and the comments vary widely it simply means some got the premise and others it was lost on. I cannot see anyone who is not on Thorozine or other profound anti-psychotics enjoying this, just a bad, slow, predictable essay on pathetic psychosis.

Spend the two hours you would have on this sleeping,you will be far more entertained.

Better yet, take your dog to the park!

Cheers!

This must see movie sneaks up on you and challenges the definition of a "genre." Romance? Drama? Horror? Better...all of the above. It's visceral hard hitting nature will sneak up on you on different levels. Christopher Denham plays a layered character with a haunting past that has everything to do with his dealings in the present. Is he the hero or the villain of the piece? Stalker or lonely-heart shlub? That depend on the individual viewer. Each of the female characters builds upon his complex and ever-troubling dealings with the fair sex. This is one of those rare treat movies that asks all the questions with open-ended, yet resolute, answers. It's rare to find a movie like this that allows the audience to discuss and debate the film and what it really means. A great effort from first time director, Nate Taylor, and writer Peter Moore Smith.

I don't see the point. How is this entertaining? How did anyone manage to convince anyone else, let alone a whole movie crew to make this? How did those aspiring actors and actress decide this was a good career move?

Maybe I missed the point. Maybe I'm just happy living my life not wanting to understand what it's like to be sick in the head. But I definitely wish I hadn't wasted those two hours of my life. This movie I definitely want to forget.

This film takes the viewer on a journey through the psyche of a bewildered man in his youth, who's inherent desire, not unlike those which we all experience, for human compassion, emotional connection, and acceptance of loss and denial, begin to drastically affect not only his life, but the lives of the people in which he befriends and confides in. Forgetting the Girl, seems to float within a realm of "non-genre", although that is not to say that the narrative isn't being represented in such a way that the viewer cannot discern the stories purpose, but that it plays between the boundary lines of a pseudo romance, drama, thriller and horror at the same time and achieves this with ease and an apparent show of skill and cinematic knowledge. This film is filled with moments that will draw you in, grab your attention, and then within the span of a few frames, completely throw that all of out the window, leave you with your hands over your head, eyes glued to the screen ,cringing, but all the while wanting to do it all over again. The beauty of a film like this is that it allows the audience to ask questions not only of themselves but the characters and the story as well as their expectations and interpretations of how things will play out, and it has done so with purpose. Highly recommended. Check it out and enjoy.

Forgetting the Girl is a dark and twisted film that left me emotionally drained and mildly concerned who might be living next door. The director (Nate Taylor) brilliantly crafts a slow build of tension and dark suspicion as the viewer is drawn into an uncomfortable intimacy with the lead character played by Christopher Denham. Denham masterfully portrays a deeply and genuinely disturbed individual struggling to find some sense of normalcy in a relationship while surrounding himself with equally, if not more overtly damaged personae. Deserving of special mention for her amazing performance is Lindsay Beamish who played Denham's obsessive and thoroughly screwed up assistant.

The slow build of this film is laced with such real emotion and frightening honesty that I was left wondering whether the director did some extracurricular study of mental health issues to so succinctly draw out such amazing insights into the psychoses of his characters. Even after the crescendo, the director (and Beamish) left me wondering whether the reveal answered all of the mysteries crafted throughout the film or if there was more than meets the eye. This movie makes me want to run background checks on my neighbors…or not have any neighbors. I'm not sure. A+ job by the Director, cast and crew.