Julianne Moore plays Telly Parreta, a New York City woman who lost her young
son Sam in an airplane accident. She's so consumed with grief over Sam's death
that she's seeing Dr Jack Munce, a psychiatrist (well-played by Gary Sinise).
This sounds like a good idea, because Telly appears to be losing her grip on
reality, forgetting where she parked her car and thinking she brought a cup of
coffee with her to Dr. Munce's office, despite Munce's insistence that she never
had any coffee. She forlornly spends her spare time in the park playground at
night, where she meets up with Ash (Dominic West, best known from The Wire). Ash
has also lost his daughter in the same airplane crash that was taking children
to an upstate summer camp. When photos and then videotapes of Sam begin to
disappear, Telly begins to suspect her husband of getting rid of them in an
effort to speed up her healing. However, when she confronts him, her husband Jim
(Anthony Edwards) tells her that they never had a son. Dr. Munce even confirms
this startling turn of events, stating that Telly had suffered a miscarriage,
and the resulting shock had caused her to go into a delusional state where she
created her imaginary son Sam.
Refusing to believe them, Telly checks out back issues of newspapers in the
library, but she cannot find any mention of the airplane accident that took
Sam's life. Even the woman who used to baby-sit for Sam has no memory of him. At
her wit's end, she goes to Ash's apartment, only to have him tell her that he
never had a daughter named Lauren. Ash also tells Telly that he had never laid
eyes on her until now. In a fit of anger, she tears down the wallpaper in his
office, revealing the drawings made on the walls by Ash's daughter. Thinking
she's completely off her nut-he explains that a previous tenant made the drawings,
Ash calls the police on Telly. But has Telly truly had a psychotic break with
reality? Or are all the memories of her dead son real?
Back in the late 1980s, Joseph Ruben directed a smart little shocker called The
Stepfather (which starred Terry O' Quinn from Lost and Alias). Armed with an
intelligent script by Gerald Di Pego, Ruben recreates the same type of movie
magic by making a taunt, riveting, and creepy thriller with The Forgotten.
Julianne Moore is superb as a desperate woman who doesn't really know if she's
losing her mind, or if something even insidious is happening. Dominic West is
excellent as her comrade in arms. The rest of the solid cast-Anthony Edwards as
Jim; Sinise as Munce; Alfre Woodard as Detective Pope-all help to lend an air of
credibility to the proceedings, which take a sharp turn straight into Twilight
Zone territory. The DVD gives you a choice of watching the original theatrical
version, or a new, slightly longer version with an alternate ending. After
watching both, I have to say I prefer the new, alternate ending version, because
it is subtler and not as overwrought as the ending in the theatrical version.
Ruben and writer Di Pego share the audio commentary (only on the theatrical
version), and the making of documentary, "Remembering The Forgotten" is better
than average, while "The Making Of The Forgotten" is your standard fluff piece.
There are also deleted scenes. While it's not a perfect film-the ending is a bit
too pat for me, and the music is WAY overdone-The Forgotten is still an enjoyable,
scary ride that offers some genuine scares along the way.
--SF
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