The Forgotten (2004)
Note: Spoilers.
What starts out as purely a psychological
thriller, and a pretty imaginative and intense one
at that, soon morphs into a rehash of a bad, unmade
"X-Files" episode and loses all hope of being a decent
movie. If you try and really think about this film's
plot at the end, you'll see there are more holes here
then in a pound of that proverbial Swiss cheese. And
speaking of cheesy, how 'bout this script!
Julianne Moore is billed as Telly
in the film but she mays as well be credited as "The
Only Thing Worth Seeing in this Movie." Moore is extraordinarily
beautiful here, as she always is, and thankfully she
appears in nearly every frame of this film. She's
also a talented actress and she actually brings a
sense of believability to this silly plot most of
the time. In the hands of someone like Meg Ryan or
Kate Hudson this film would be utter dreck. Moore,
at least, makes it watchable.
The same cannot be said of her co-stars
including Gary Sinese, who seems stuck in a character
that changed between drafts of the script after he
had already signed on; Anthony Edwards, who was apparently
hired because he obviously has no personality or is
amazingly adept at feigning so; Alfre Woodard, who
needs a better wig or a better hairdresser (God that
can't really be her hair, can it); and Dominic West,
who annoys continually throughout the film because
his voice sounds so similar to Willem DaFoe's that
it seems like he's doing an spot-on impersonation
of his better-known peer for 90 minutes.
During the film's most silly moment,
the lead alien here looks at Moore and bellows, "You
need to forget," as his face elongates into a hideous,
ungodly, inhuman form and glass shatters. If only
it were that easy to disremember this dreck.
Note:
Directed by Joseph Ruben. Written
by Gerald Di Pego. Score by James Horner.
Art design is by Paul D. Kelly who
obviously loves the faux corrugated tin look.
At one time Nicole Kidman was attached
to star.
Viewed in October 2004 in Austin
