The Forgotten film review

certificate_12A

THE FORGOTTEN

The Forgotten is one of those stories that, in the wrong hands and without such a compelling performance from its star, could easily have ended up as risible nonsense. Instead it is an absorbing mystery that possesses at its core a question about fundamental human instincts, one that helps ground the film while events become increasingly strange.

Julianne Moore is always wonderfully effectual, but this is the first time she has been given the sole responsibility for carrying a big film. It's a job she more than admirably succeeds in. Her performance as a mother faced with the notion that her dead son never existed is both moving and forceful. Add in a few chair-leaping moments and the odd twist and you end up with something that while never in danger of being profound, is at least entertaining.

Moore plays Telly Paretta, a New York mother whose nine year-old son Sam had died in a plane crash fourteen months earlier. Reluctant to move on, she clings obsessively to Sam's memory. When evidence of Sam's existence mysteriously begins to disappear along with the belief of friends and family, including her husband Jim (Anthony Edwards), Telly's sanity is undermined. It's only when she meets up with Ash Correll (Dominic West), whose daughter had also perished in the crash with Sam, that Telly finds proof to support her unwavering conviction that she had a son. Teaming up with Ash, the pair go on a quest to determine what became of their children and why everyone from Telly's psychiatrist (Gary Sinise) to the FBI seem to be involved in the conspiracy.

The paternal bond between mother and child is one that has been explored extensively, but never quite from the same perspective as The Forgotten. Screenwriter Gerald Di Pego has come up with an original if far fetched angle, one that director Joseph Ruben has realized with admirable restraint. The taut plot is rarely allowed to slacken, all the while maintaining a strong hold on Telly's emotional truth, so powerfully conveyed by Moore. Adding to The Forgotten's pervasive tone of unease is Anastas Michos's cold, stark cinematography.

When high concept meets Hollywood, too often the results are forgettable, but although The Forgotten wouldn't bear up to thorough scrutiny, it possesses enough invention and thought to prevent dismissal. At one point, when an FBI agent is challenged by Telly for the truth, he replies, "The truth wont fit in your brain." Maybe so, but it was fun finding out.