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The Forgotten was supposed to have been Nicole Kidman's film, but she wisely went to a different project. Julianne Moore took the role of a married woman in therapy to cope with the grief of losing her son in a plane crash. This psychological thriller has a few moments of surprise but some come from glancing at your watch to see when it is time to leave the theater.  Such a talented cast---so many chase scenes---how many times does Moore have to wave her long, red hair around the room? I've forgotten already.

The basic story has Moore clinging to memories of her lost son. Her husband (Anthony Edwards) suggests therapy with a doctor (Gary Sinise) but it isn't producing  results and she becomes suspicious of some kind of nefarious plot when even family pictures and videos begin to exclude the boy. It's only when she meets Dominic West, whose daughter was on the same plane and is also missing, that things start to come together. Moore is clinging, positively clinging, to the memories of her son and eventually to West's daughter, too.  At first, he can't remember the daughter, but when he does, and government agents start chasing them, you know something strange is afoot. Agent Mulder, where are you?

The Forgotten has as many chase scenes as any Batman film. The camera gives the plot away, whether intentionally or not. What the film does have going for it are a few startling rather than frightening moments. What could have been a genuine horror is reduced to a footnote. Julianne Moore does the proper amount of emoting and so does Dominic West, but that leaves the rest of the cast with nothing to do. Most of the scenes are shot in darker-than-average rooms, and the lack of continuity in one scene is especially irritating as the actors walk into a room in daylight and then through the windows of the next room, we see it is night outside. You will think of Psychology 101 in different terms after The Forgotten.

Copyright 2004 Marie Asner
Submitted 9/26/04

Telly Paretta (played by Julianne Moore, whose only other good role was in Hannibal) is having difficulty getting over the loss of her son, Sam, who died over a year ago in a plane crash. Her husband tries to comfort and be there for her as does her therapist (played by Gary Sinise, who is now starring on CSI: NY).  At first, Telly forgets small things.  Things get worse when Telly notices that her son is no longer in a family picture and the next day she realizes that the home movies and photo albums are all blank.  Both her husband and her therapist suddenly begin trying to convince her that she never had a son, that none of her eight years worth of memories are real.  She flees to seek the truth and one of the first places that she runs to is the home of Ash Correll. The daughter of Ash Correll used to play with Telly's son, but she was also killed in the same plane crash as her son.  She is shocked to find he does not remember having a daughter.  After Ash finally remembers his daughter, the two race to find out what is going on and where their kids are.

This is one of the most dramatic and suspenseful movies of recent memory.  Unlike movies where the suspense revolves around how the hero will overcome the villain, the suspense in this movie revolves around the questions such as whether or not Sam was real and who is behind everything that is going on.  The director does a wonderful job drawing in viewers and making them wonder what is actually going on in this amazingly bizarre movie.

Is this a movie that parents can take their children to?  It depends on the age of the child. While The Forgotten is rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, some violence and brief language, there are less than five examples of profanity and only a few examples of the Lord's name being taken in vain.  There is little violence, other than a car crash and someone getting shot.  There are several scenes that may shock and scare young children because the adults accompanying them are likely to jump at these scenes, scaring their  younger children accompanying them because this is easily one of the most suspenseful movies of recent memory. It is also one of the top movies of the year.

Burton Wray  September 27, 2004