The Forgotten
After Julianne Moore runs through a grocery store and an alley, she stops in front of white graffiti on a wall. It's the logo of Revolution Studios, which produced the movie.,When Ash and Telly enter the Long Island house it is daylight, but as they go through the house it is night (Ash is in the dining room with a lantern and there is complete blackness in the windows).,Telly Paretta: I had life inside me. I had life. I have a child. I have a son. I have a son, and his name is Sam, you son of a bitch.,The movie has two endings; one for the theatrical release, and an alternate version included in the movie's DVD. In the first, after a brief dialogue with Telly, the man creates an illusion of Sam which Telly chases through the hangar, and then confronts her again. He reveals that the purpose of the experiment is not to investigate the children, but rather the bond that exists between a parent and child, and that he believes it can be broken. He admits, however, that the experiment has so far produced no positive results with regards to Telly, and that it will fail soon if she doesn't forget, and he will be responsible for that failure. However, despite him revealing himself as an alien and almost succeeding by stealing the memory of Sam's birth, Telly can still remember her son, and he is whisked away by an unseen force, presumably to face the consequences of failure. Reality is restored to normal, and Telly is the only one who can remember the events that transpired. The alternate version is very similar, except that Telly is faced with a facsimile of Sam's room. She tries to force her way in, but cannot reach Sam. The alien scientist tries to convince her to forget Sam, but fails. He then accepts that the experiment has failed, and explains that she will be the only one who remembers what transpired there. Reality is again restored to normal.,Featured in Remembering 'the Forgotten' (2005),The title offers the perfect opportunity to score some easy points; and I must admit that I'm not the sort of guy to pass these kinds of things up. So let's get it out of the way early - here goes: Hollywood has obviously 'forgotten' how to execute a polished thriller; and Julianne Moore must by now have 'forgotten' exactly why she chose this role. The very word should clue an audience in that what follows will deal with memories, or to be precise, certain characters lack of them. That being the case, the makers might as well have settled on the ultimate explanation that someone's drink has been spiked, I assure you that this would raise as many questions, is as unspecific, and is as deeply uninspired as the scenario that eventually plays itself out. To underpin a thriller, one would ordinarily want an intricate puzzle, a complex conspiracy web of intrigue and downright nefariousness. What we actually get is a basic idea that the screenplay never bothers to delve into fully, and seems like it was desperately thought up so everyone concerned had a catch-all excuse for some decidedly 'loose' plotting.

For example, we learn that some individuals have a certain undertaking. We know then WHAT they are doing; but the question that is never really adequately addressed for my liking is any possible reason they could have for wanting to do it?? 'Because they can', is the dominant motive that appears to dictate the approach of the script. That's just not good enough though I'm afraid, when you have a 'revelation' that's so slow to arrive, in as short a film as this one is. A film that's particularly complex in nature might invite you to fill in the blanks yourself; but the routes travelled here are so linear and undistinguished that the bigger picture is why someone would bother going to the trouble in the first place.

What's also comical is the apparent determination to avoid directly confronting what the film obviously wants itself to be about. It's as if the crew said: "We can't openly acknowledge this theme, in a movie starring Julianne Moore!" Well, appear in it she does; and I say in complete earnestness that how she was lured into participating is perhaps the biggest mystery here. It's one that's still ripe for solving, too.

If you haven't seen the film; I'll leave you to guess the plot point I have come this far without managing to accidentally reveal. The depressing thing is, the average layperson's uninformed shot in the dark has a high probability of being correct; and why bother watching something you could have easily concocted yourself???,