The Forgotten (L'Oubli)

 

 

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A grieving woman must make a journey into her past in this psychological thriller. Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) is a mother who is struggling to put her life back together after the unexpected death of her eight-year-old son. Telly begins seeing a therapist (Gary Sinise) who offers a startling diagnosis -- that her son never really existed, and all her memories of the child are products of her imagination. When Telly meets a man with a strangely similar story to tell about his lost child (Dominic West), she becomes convinced that her doctor is wrong, and sets out to prove the existence of her child -- and that she isn't insane. The Forgotten also features Alfre Woodard and Anthony Edwards. An alternate ending exists to this film, which has been released on DVD and purportedly does a great deal to compensate for the story's weaknesses.

Ever since I saw the first trailer, I was fascinated by the premise of this movie - the memory of a dead child being erased from the minds of everyone but his mother - and wondered just how a story like that could possibly end. Having read some of the reviews, my expectations were a little bit lowered as I finally got the chance to view The Forgotten. It turns out that I need not have lowered my expectations at all because I loved this movie. I honestly can't see why so many people were disappointed with it. I had no preconceived notions of the ending, and I must say the conclusion not only made sense, it felt right to me. I'm not saying that the whole explanation behind everything doesn't have a few weak spots, but it certainly works for me. And the special effects - Wow! I wasn't really looking for any blow-you-away effects, and a couple of them really did a number on me - especially that first one. I didn't even see it coming. I wouldn't say I jumped, exactly, but there was definitely a twitch involved with the experience.

When you get right down to it, The Forgotten is really about a mother's love - probably the strongest force in the universe - and I think there is really something poignant and life-affirming in my reaction to what I saw here. Julianne Moore really is a great actress; she is definitely the rock upon which this story is built. Her character, Telly Paretta, loses everything - first her son in a tragic plane crash, and then what is left of her life as everyone around her forgets the son she is still grieving for. Every piece of evidence for young Sam's existence disappears - photos, scrapbooks, etc.; her husband insists that they never had a child; and her psychiatrist, Dr. Munce (Gary Sinise), explains to her that she invented all of her memories because of some kind of psychotic break from reality. Still, she never doubts what she knows inside. Fortunately, she does manage to awaken the forgotten memories of another girl's father, and that is when things really get weird. Suddenly, Telly and Ash (Dominic West) are being aggressively pursued by National Security agents, and that makes their job of finding out what is going on all the more difficult.

I understand that some won't really like the direction the story takes, but I was very impressed by the script and, especially, the convincing performance by Julianne Moore. I can't really argue the merits of the story without giving anything away, but I did think everything was laid out quite well. It's a mystery, a psychological thriller, and a drama all rolled up in into one, and I for one won't be forgetting The Forgotten any time soon.

this movie stinks, annoying acting, stupid ending beyond belief...special features are non-existint dont be sucked in to that (2 movie versions crap) it's not just a different ending which sucks horribly....worth and rent thats it..

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