Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Forgotten (2004)

Introduction:
This was one of those movies that I remember seeing trailers for and being intrigued by. But for some reason or another I never got around to checking it out. Then it popped up on the Netflix download, I had a flashback to the trailer and decided to give it a spin. Was it worth digging up this… un-remembered movie or should it have stayed… in oblivion.

Summary:
Telly (Julianne Moore) is trying to cope with the loss of her son. Her husband Jim (Anthony Edwards) starts to believe that she will never cope with anything. Mostly because they never had a son!  Telly refuses to beiieve that all her memories of her child are some kind of mental breakdown. She receives confirmation of this when she meets a Ash Correll (Dominic West). His daughter has also disappeared from everything but his memories.

The two begin a search for these missing children and a world that seems bent on erasing them from existence. Along the way they finds clues that point them to a decietful Dr. Munce (Gary Sinise) and put them in the way of determined detective Pope (Alfre Woodard). Have Telly and Ash gone completely insane or is there a secret behind the Forgotten children?

Good Points:
  • Julianne Moore delivers a very moving performance
  • Alfre Woodard injects some energy and personality into the film
  • Has a couple creepy moments

Bad Points:
  • Moves too slowly losing all sense of momentum
  • Never feels like it goes quite far enough with certain concepts
  • The final reveal is a bit of a let down

Overall:
About halfway through the film I wished that Woodard’s detective character had been the main character. She brings life and energy to this turgid film, and whenever she’s around the movie picks up. Sadly most of the film wallows in slow conversations that meander around but never quite gel. I see what director Joseph Ruben was going for, but he never quite captures that mood or atmosphere. The end result is a dull film that is quickly… forgotten. (had to be done)

Scores (out of 5)
Visuals: 4
Sound: 3
Acting: 4
Script: 3
Music: 3
Direction: 2
Entertainment: 2
Total:  2


Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

4 comments:

  1. One has to dig through a lot of kimberlite to find a diamond, and the same is true of movies. But the gems are in there, and many of them are small, largely overlooked, much forgotten indies. It's great that you're willing to mine for them. (Julianne Moore would have tempted me too.) Sifting through awful flicks (e.g Compelling Evidence) and so-so ones (The Machine) does offer the occasional reward: Ruby Sparks; Igby Goes Down; Dirty Girl; Afternoon Delight; How I Live Now; et al. Thanks for the assay on this one.

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    1. Yeah, this one really lived up to its name. We watched it about a month ago and I wrote up the review right afterward. When it came time to post it... I had actually forgotten we watched it. Ouch.

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  2. I haven't seen The Forgotten. Sadly Halloween is upon us, and I was having fun watching a few horror films, I still might have to include a few in my movie watch diet. I tend to scramble things up a bit anyway. That said, I don't know if it's just me or what, but I fell that most modern horror fails compared to the past. I say that because each new October AMC and TCM both continue to replay the same old thing: Carpenter's Halloween, the Friday the 13th franchise, Scream, Psycho, and so forth. Now I enjoy some of that stuff, but it's been a while since the horror genre has had a hit. Well, I guess there was Saw. Maybe too, as we get older it gets harder to let your guard down, and suspend your disbelief. I certainly haven't given up on it as a genre, but on the other hand, I think I lean a bit more towards SF between the two.

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    1. Yeah I see where you're coming from. The new crop of found footage horror is extremely hit and miss with me. I've seen a few good ones like "The Bay" and "Devil's Pass". Even "Europa Report" which mixes found footage with sci-fi was pretty darn good.

      But before that we had the whole torture genre and that didn't do much for me at all. And before that you had the all the remakes of the Japanese and Korean ghost films. 9 times out of 10 the original version was much spookier. But those films only work for some folks. I know a lot of people that find "Ringu" as dull as dirt.

      There are some fun recent movies that I've added to our Halloween viewing. You can check out my list of alternate Halloween films (and a few newer flicks at the end have entered regular rotation)
      http://romansreviews.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-ten-alternative-horror-flicks-i.html

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