The Forgotten (2004)

After being told that their children never existed, a man and woman soon discover there is a much bigger enemy at work.

Director:

Joseph Ruben

Writer:

Gerald Di Pego

Stars:

Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Christopher Kovaleski

7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Julianne Moore	...	Telly
Christopher Kovaleski	...	Sam
Matthew Pleszewicz	...	Sam at 5
Anthony Edwards	...	Jim
Jessica Hecht	...	Eliot
Linus Roache	...	A Friendly Man
Gary Sinise	...	Dr. Jack Munce
Dominic West	...	Ash
Katie Cooper	...	Library Clerk
Scott Nicholson	...	Cop
P.J. Morrison	...	Cop (as PJ Morrison)
Robert Wisdom	...	Carl Dayton
Tim Kang	...	Agent Alec Wong
Kathryn Faughnan	...	Lauren
Alfre Woodard	...	Anne Pope

Storyline

In New York City, Telly Paretta has been under the psychiatric care of Dr. Jack Munce for fourteen months, the therapy to help her deal with the grief associated with losing her nine year old son, Sam Paretta, one of six children in a plane that went missing, the plane and the bodies never recovered. In the words of Telly's husband, Jim Paretta, Telly has been holding onto the past like a "death grip", which has hindered her therapy. Telly does not appreciate that characterization as it makes it sound like Dr. Munce and Jim want her to forget Sam. Slowly, incidents make it seem like Telly is losing that grip on the past, until one day all physical evidence of Sam disappears, personal as well as public, such as all media stories of the plane disappearance. Subsequently, Jim and Dr. Munce try to explain to her that her therapy is to help her get over the delusion that she and Jim have/had a son. As Telly alone goes on a search for any evidence of the existence of Sam, the only person ...

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Plot Keywords:

abduction | conspiracy | mother son relationship | children | therapy | 

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Taglines:

On September 24th, you will be forgotten.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, some violence and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mémoire effacée

Filming Locations:

Baker Camp - 7 Lakes Drive - Lake Sebago, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$42,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,022,111, 26 September 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$67,133,509, 31 December 2004

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$117,592,831

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios,Jinks/Cohen Company,Visual Arts Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 94 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nicole Kidman was originally attached to star.

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Goofs

Telly manages to encounter her husband again after disappearing with Ash yet he does not seem to remember her at all. This is an issue that is never addressed in the film again. In fact this character is never seen again after this sequence.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. Jack Munce: How much time did you spend at the dresser compared to last week?
Telly Paretta: Less.
Dr. Jack Munce: How much less?
Telly Paretta: I don't know exactly.
Dr. Jack Munce: You wanna make a guess, roughly, for the week?
Telly Paretta: Oh, not even an hour a day.

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Alternate Versions

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.

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Connections

Featured in Remembering 'The Forgotten' (2005)

User Reviews

Should be retitled, "Forget about it."

Although it started out with potential and had a few good quickie shock visuals, the plot was endless, boring and then ended as completely silly! Endless running through the streets, drab script as far as dialogue between the characters. I never did figure out how the cool female detective found out what truly was happening. I think there were some cut scenes due to budget or something. Next thing you know, she's zapped into the air. The first couple of "zaps" were heartstopping. The rest of them were business as usual. I think the writers knew the script was not full of exciting stuff and tried to overcompensate with zapping additional people into the air from time to time. And the reason for all of this? Once you find out at the end of the movie, it is truly incredulous and laughable (in fact, a lot of us did laugh in the theater)...The title is appropriate. In my mind, this is "The Forgotten" movie of the season/year.