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| The Forgotten | 
| Category: Movie
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  278 reviews
Sales Rank: 7288
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 95 minutes
ASIN: B000T4349G
Theatrical Release Date: September 23, 2004
Release Date: November 25, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
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| Customer Reviews:
 Generally Disapointing, but Nicely Shot May 7, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
My expectations were not high before seeing this film, but overall it was still a disappointment. Not too frightening, and a real let down of an ending.
What I did like about this movie is that it is nicely filmed, with a subtle eerie atmosphere. It's always nice to see beautiful shots of New York City.
Some hype has been given to the alternate ending on the DVD. It is better than the theatrical version, but not by much.
It's like Tibor Takacs got a big budget... April 21, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Forgotten (Joseph Ruben, 2004)
This is one of those movies I really wanted to see, then forgot existed, then remembered, and finally got round to renting on DVD. The trailers made it look like it was going to be a fun, turn-your-brain-off suspense thriller with aliens capable of ripping roofs off houses. I dig it.
The problem is that about halfway through it got ludicrous, and no roofs had been ripped off yet. (Except in the trailer, which committed the unpardonable sin of showing scenes from way, way farther in the movie than it should have.) After that, it just kept getting more and more ludicrous. I kept watching, though to be honest I'm not quite sure why, right up until the end. I was writing the review in my head while watching, a horrible vice of mine, and I was saying "ludicrous, but watchable." Then came the end, and my skull went "OMGWTFBBQWORSTENDINGEVAR!!1!!~!1!" Once my head cleared, I realized it wasn't, in fact, the worst ending in film history (and had, oddly, not a thing to do with barbecuing-- all films should end with a big barbecue, the world would be a much happier place if they did. But I digress.), but man, it was a stinker. Had they cut off the movie five minutes before they did, it would be ludicrous but watchable. Tacking on the final scene made it ludicrous and just plain bad.
Telly (Julianne Moore, who needs no introduction) lost her son Sam (Mind the Gap's Christopher Kovaleski) in an airplane crash fourteen months before the story begins. She is still obsessed over his death, and her husband Jim (ER's Anthony Edwards) and her therapist, Dr. Munce (The Stand's Gary Sinise), are trying to convince her. Then, out of nowhere, something odd happens-- all the pictures and video of Sam vanish. Jim and Munce, realizing the gig is up, inform Telly that, in fact, she never had a son; the whole thing is in her head. She thinks she's going nuts until she runs into Ash (Chicago's Dominic West), whose daughter Lauren was killed in the same crash as Sam.
All the pieces are there for a good psychological thriller. A good conspiracy film. Even a good film about alien abduction. (I know, there's never been such a beast, but there's always a first time.) This, however, is not it. It goes for all the predictable plot twists, adds car chases wherever possible, and goes for the ambiguous-yet-sappy ending that Hollywood so loves, but manages to not satisfy a single filmgoer with half a brain. If you've seen the trailers, you've already seen pretty much the entire film, and you don't have to put up with the horrible ending. **, because the first half is at least watchable.
Great Plot that Kind of Gets Bizarre April 16, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Twilight zone meets A Beautiful Mind. Explores the psychic connection that some mothers have with their children. Glad to see that the "mother bear" archetype is alive and well but the plot makes a shaky transition from psychodrama to Twilight Zone/Psi Factor/X-Files. Julianne Moore is superb but the writing doesn't make the connections between the parallel realities.
 Surprisingly good April 7, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was afraid that "The Forgotten" was going to be just like all the other crappy thriller/horror movies that have been released over the past few years, but this film was pretty interesting and the ending was not at all craptastic.
Basically, the movie opens by introducing Telly (Julianne Moore) as a grieving mother whose nine-year-old son supposedly died in a plane crash 14 months ago. In a very "X-Files" sort of way, Telly is stunned when her husband Jim (Anthony Edwards) suddenly tried to convince her that their son never existed. Everyone is under the impression that Telly is delusional...no one else in town has any memory of her child. Telly finally meets up with her neighbor, Ash (Dominic West), whose daughter was also aboard the plane that crashed. At first Ash has no memory of the children and is convinced that Telly is crazy, but she finally helps him trigger memories of his daughter. The two parents embark on a desperate and dangerous search in order to determine the truth behind what happened to their children and ultimately discover who (actually, more like WHAT) is behind the mystery.
I think it would have been interesting to include a better explanation of why the "experiment" occurred in the first place. (I'd go into more detail, but I really don't want to spoil the plot for anyone!) I also would have appreciated having a better understanding of what Gary Sinese's character was up to at the end of the film and what the hell happened to Jim (is he still wandering around dazed and confused somewhere?). The movie doesn't go into great detail about HOW all these crazy things are happening and what exactly the "creepy people" (including Linus Roache's character) are supposed to be. That didn't bother me too much, but some people might not appreciate it. I was just happy that there were plenty of shocking moments in the film (I think I lost five years off my life when that car hit Telly's passenger door...that made me scream!) and that the ending was not stupid or predictable.
"The Forgotten" is not a great movie, but it's a pretty good one...definitely worth checking out.
Intriguing for a while, but that's it April 4, 2006
With a plot that seems like you've seen and heard it before, the Forgotten is intriguing for a while before it veers into Twilight Zone territory. Julianne Moore gives a mostly solid performance as a grieving mother whose husband (Anthony Edwards) informs her that their child never existed. It's impossible, she's sure of it, and she's even more ure of it when she meets a similarly grieving father (the Wire's Dominic West), and soon enough both are up to their eyes in a mysterious plot involving the NSA, and those that are even "higher up". Normally the big twist and revelation wouldn't bother me as much as it did here, but it feels so hokey and tacked on that other plot holes and inconsistencies will soon make themselves apparent. The Forgotten is still worth a look for mindless entertainment, and that's pretty much all to be expected from this. Also featuring Alfre Woodard as a detective, Gary Sinise as a shrink who knows more than he's letting on, and HBO's Oz great Lee Tergesen as an ill-fated agent.
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