CinemaNow - The Forgotten

Film critics rarely warn readers when their reviews contain detailed descriptions of the plot -- spoilers, in the Internet vernacular. But Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert posts this notice at the head of his review of The Forgotten: This review contains spoilers. If it didn't, I can think of no way to review it at all, short of summarizing the first three minutes and then telling you some very strange stuff happens. My advice: If you plan to see the film (which I do not recommend), hold the review until afterward. Then, after a detailed discussion of most of the film's spooky plot, Ebert writes: I will not spoil details of the last act, except to say that it is preposterous. That's an adjective that other critics employ in their reviews of the movie, too, among them, Manohla Dargis in the New York Times, and goes on to fault the director, Joseph Ruben, for failing to take advantage of star Julianne Moore's considerable talent. Moore delivers a performance that has all the emotional commitment of a bored kid playing with a light switch, she writes. Megan Lehmann in the New York Post figures that Moore must be slumming it in a movie whose screenplay is Swiss cheese. Like Roger Ebert, Ty Burr is also reluctant to reveal very much about the film (a grade-A B-movie, he calls it), stopping himself in mid-review with the comment, I'm not saying any more, because it would sound incredibly silly and you wouldn't see the movie.

one of those movies written, produced, and shot in three weeks.doesn't really fit a genre (although it would have to be forced upon scifi).although the theme is television quality, actors and director make a creditable effort to save it from itself.fair as a scifi, but hurried and underdone.