SUSPENSE
Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Alfre Woodard, Gary Sinise, Linus Roache
[STARS 2]
Where are agents Mulder and Scully when you need 'em? The two X-Filers would get to the bottom of what's going on in this middling thriller a lot faster than anyone onscreen. Moore plays Telly, a mother in Brooklyn still grieving for her 9-year-old son, who died in a plane crash on his way to camp 14 months ago. One day all pictures of her beloved boy disappear from her house, along with any other evidence of his existence. Her husband (Anthony Edwards) sadly tells her that she never had a son, that she has made up the entire tragedy. She gets the same story from her shrink (Sinise) and everyone else she confronts. Did they all drink the same Kool-Aid or is she nuts? "It's not me," Telly vows. "I'm not insane."
For the first half The Forgotten cruises along, buoyed by its intriguing premise and Moore's fierce performance. But then, as logic goes out the window and supernatural elements waft in, director Joseph Ruben (Money Train) allows Forgotten to lose momentum and turn both mushy-headed and mushy. Sure, there are a few solid scares here, but nothing that'll have you covering your eyes. West (HBO's The Wire), playing a sympathetic father who also lost a child, makes for a low-charisma leading man, while Sinise is underused as a doctor who may know more than he's letting on. (PG-13)
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