"A profoundly silly film that fails as both a sci-fi head trip and a deeper drama about a mother's love for her child." Ethan Alter FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL "We get all of Moore, which is a lot, but only half a story, which is not quite enough to make The Forgotten a winning thriller." Michael Booth DENVER POST "A gripping, disorienting thriller that delivers several jolts that throw the audience off-balance and never lets them get upright." Jeffrey Bruner DES MOINES REGISTER "The Forgotten just doesn't quite hold up as either a gut-wrenching tale of loss or a convincing psychological thriller." Kit Bowen HOLLYWOOD.COM "Starts off with great promise but has nowhere to go, missing as it is that small but crucial element of storytelling known as the story." Liz Braun JAM! MOVIES

"If you want to watch good actors do good work, the film will entertain, but some of the plot twists beg to be, um, forgotten." Paul Clinton CNN "A well-crafted thriller with a dash of horror and a pinch of the surreal." Jeanne Aufmuth PALO ALTO WEEKLY "Will be forgotten by the filmgoing public very, very quickly." KJB IGN FILMFORCE "...a serviceable thriller...even though it feels an awful lot like a mediocre 'X-Files' episode at times." JoBlo JOBLO'S MOVIE EMPORIUM "The Forgotten is kinetic enough to keep you in your seat, but it slips from memory quickly." Judith Egerton COURIER-JOURNAL LOUISVILLE

At A Glance

"One of those films that leave you wondering if any of the actors read the whole script before signing on." Terry Lawson DETROIT FREE PRESS

There are sometimes some amazing stories when one delves into the background of a film and none is more amazing than how screenwriter Gerald DiPego was inspired to write "The Forgotten". Why is that so? Because DiPego's inspiration came from a dream. DiPego revealed that in his dream "there was a family photo." Nothing special in that, I mean we all have dreams with family photo's in, don't we? Yeh, sure we do. In the dream,the photo was of "a mother, a father and a son. Slowly the son's image began to fade, finally fading away." DiPego says he awoke with a jolt. The time was 6:30am in the morning. The images really played on his mind but by 8:30am when he awoke his wife he had his story. Of course as we all know it's one thing to have a story, but it's another thing to get that story on film. As luck would have it DiPego's agent suggested that the script should go to Revolution Studios chairman Joe Roth. Within the short space of twenty four hours Joe Roth had bought the screenplay and passed it on to another associate, director Joseph Ruben, with whom he had worked while at 20th Century Fox. Ruben was impressed with the story line. "What immediately got to me was the emotion at the core of the story, the struggle of the mother to save her child. It was driven by the kind of primal feelings that immediately draw the audience in and touch them emotionally." Next to come on board were Academy Award ® winning producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks Oscar recipients for "American Beauty". Cohen says, "Dan and I had been wanting to do a thriller for a while, but we were hoping one day to find an unconventional thriller, something we hadn't seen before." What was it then that attracted them to the project? Cohen says he "just kept turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next." And what was his reaction? "It was riveting," he said, "and creepy." All that may sound good, but it will only work if you have the right cast. The star of "The Forgotten" is an actress with incredible talent, Miss Julianne Moore who has received ACADEMY AWARD ® nominations for her outstanding performances in "The End Of The Affair", "Boogie Nights", "Far From Heaven" and "The Hours", the 2004 Excellence in Media Award and the 2002 Gotham Award. Director Joseph Ruben realized that the character of Telly Paretta was "a tour de force role, requiring an actor who can deliver." Julianne Moore he says is an actor who "has a quality that is so vivid and sympathetic that you can't help connect with her." He adds that it also helps that she is "a real life mother of two" and that when watching her perform you can sense "she's tapping into the unique bond that exists between a mother and child." Yet the talent doesn't start and finish with Miss Moore! Joining Moore for "The Forgotten" is the acclaimed actor Gary Sinise, who received the ACADEMY AWARD ® & SCREEN ACTORS Guild Award winner after appearing alongside Tom Hanks in "Forrest Gump" and fellow SAG Award winner Alfre Woodard. "The Forgotten" was shot mainly in New York, something which made a couple of cast members very happy. Every American project I have done ended up shooting in Canada," says Linus Roache, "so to actually shoot on American soil is fantastic, and New York is my favorite city in the world, so I loved it. I like the whole New York vibe; always have. Just being with a New York crew is really a lot of fun. There's a great energy." Shooting in New York also secured the lead actress ideal for the role of Telly. "I live here, my children are in school here, and I did not want to go away," says Moore. "But It was also important because the city is almost a character in the movie. I like the huge urban presence. It adds colors to the story." Well travelled producer Bruce Cohen agrees, with the actors. "It was such a thrill for us to be shooting in New York. Unfortunately, over the years so many productions have gone to places like Canada, Australia, and even North Carolina for financial reasons. But in doing so, you lose the tangible atmosphere that only New York City can give you. The feeling that shooting in New York gives to the film adds to it immeasurably." Never the less, while some were happy to be in New York, filming there did present problems says Executive producer Steve Nicolaides who had previously worked with Samuel L Jackson on "Shaft", Jack Black on "The School Of Rock" Jack Nicholson on "A Few Good Men" and with Rob Reiner on "When Sally Met Harry". "The biggest challenge making the film was that the director and the head of the studio both wanted the movie to have a cold, winter look", Nicolaides explained. "We started at the end of October, a very volatile time of year weather-wise, since we're going from fall into winter, yet the story takes place over the course of only two weeks." Anyone who has been in New York or for that sake the North Eastern seaboard will concur with Nicolaides when he explained further, "The weather changes drastically from October to January in New York. That's the hardest part of shooting here." There's no doubt they captured the right mood for this thrilling drama. The cast is is solid and the premise is good, but in the end viewers will have to make up their own mind as to the merit of the finished product. As for me? well I'd take in "The Forgotten" just to see the cast at work. They do damn fine! Crew Bytes "The Forgotten" was .......
directed by Joseph Ruben ["Joyride", "Sleeping With The Enemy", "The Good Son" and "Money Train"]; writen by Gerald DiPego ["Sharky's Machine", "Phenomenon", "Message in a Bottle" and "Angel Eyes"]; costume design by Cindy Evans ["Memento", "Laurel Canyon", "Along Came Polly" and "Thirteen"]; production manager Joseph E Iberti ["A Kiss Before Dying", "Sabrina", "First Wives Club" and "In & Out"]; edited by Richard Francis-Bruce ["Dead Calm", "The Green Mile", "The Perfect Storm" and "The Italian Job"]; cinematograhpy by Anastas N Michos ["The Big Kahuna", "What's the Worst That Could Happen?", "Death to Smoochy" and "Mona Lisa Smile"]; original music by James Horner ["Patriot Games", "Clear and Present Danger", "Titanic", "Enemy at the Gates" and "A Beautiful Mind"]; produced by ACADEMY AWARD ® winner Bruce Cohen ["Mouse Hunt", "American Beauty", "Down With Love" and "Big Fish"], ACADEMY AWARD ® winner Dan Jinks ["Bone Collector", "American Beauty", "Down With Love" and "Big Fish"] and Joe Roth ["The Three Musketeers", "While You Were Sleeping", "Daddy Day Care" and "Mona Lisa Smile "]. Casting About "The Forgotten" stars .......
2002 Gotham Award winner Julianne Moore ["The Big Lebowski", "Hannibal", "Far From Heaven", "The Hours" and "Laws of Attraction"]; ACADEMY AWARD ® & SCREEN ACTORS Guild Award winner Gary Sinise ["Forrest Gump", "Apollo 13", "The Green Mile" and "The Big Bounce"]; THREE time SAG Award winner Anthony Edwards ["Pet Sematary II", "The Client", "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "Thunderbirds"]; Jessica Hecht ["Kicking and Screaming", "Seven Girlfriends", "Saving Face" and "Sideways"]; Linus Roache ["No Surrender", "Pandaemonium", "Hart's War" and "The Chronicles of Riddick"]; GOLDEN GLOBE, EMMY, Cable ACE & SAG Award winner Alfre Woodard ["Remember My Name", "Scrooged", "Primal Fear", "Star Trek: First Contact", "What's Cooking?", "K-PAX " and "The Core"]; Dominic West ["Spice World", "Rock Star", "Chicago" and "Mona Lisa Smile"]; Tim Kang ["Two Weeks Notice", "Robot Stories" and "Justice"]; Susan Misner ["Everyone Says I Love You", "Queenie in Love", "Chicago" and "Something's Gotta Give"]; Katie Cooper ["Bridget Jones's Diary", "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "40 Days and 40 Nights"] and Christopher Kovaleski ["Mind the Gap"] as Sam. The Story

"The more you understand what's really going on, the less you like it." Anthony Del Valle LAS VEGAS MERCURY

Telly Paretta's life has been shattered since she lost her son Sam in a plane crash some fourteen months ago. The treatment she is getting is of little help and as a grieving mother she is struggling to come to terms with life as it disintergrates around her. Telly's psychiatrist, Dr Munce, believes that everything she believes only exists in her mind. There is no Sam. It's a compensating factor her subconcious has manufactured to help her cope. Then she meets another parent, Ash Correll. She believes, no she knows Ash had a daughter on the same flight as her son. As the clues to her life are slowly disappearing Telly has a breakthrough. In Ash's house she discovers a childs room. Are the children still alive? The Verdict "If you've seen the trailer a couple of times you might be a little disappointed with where "The Forgotten" takes you. The cast is solid and the premise is good, the images fit well but .... it all gets a little silly by films end. "The Forgotten" will, for many cinemagoers, be soon forgotten. Worth having a look at even if the wheels do fall off. Like a baby with an ugly face this is a story only a mother could love!" The Cast

Julianne Moore Christopher Kovaleski Matthew Pleszewicz Anthony Edwards Jessica Hecht Linus Roache Gary Sinise Dominic West Katie Cooper Scott Nicholson P J Morrison Robert Wisdom Tim Kang Kathryn Faughnan Alfre Woodard Felix Solis Susan Misner Lee Tergesen Ken Abraham J Tucker Smith Ann Dowd

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Telly Paretta Sam Sam at 5 Jim Paretta Eliot A Friendly Man Dr Jack Munce Ash Correll Library Clerk Cop Cop Carl Dayton Agent Alec Wong Lauren Correll Det. Anne Pope Brasher Agent Lisa Franks Al Petalis Gas Station Attendant Sheriff Howell Eileen the Accountant

The Crew Directed by Joseph Ruben Written by Gerald DiPego Produced by Bruce Cohen/Dan Jinks/Joe Roth Executive Producers Todd Garner and Steve Nicolaides Original Music by James Horner Cinematography by Anastas N Michos Film Editing by Richard Francis-Bruce Art Direction by Paul D Kelly Costume Design by Cindy Evans Makeup Department Jerry Popolis Production Manager Joseph E Iberti Run Time 91 minutes Rated M15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2004 - Columbia Pictures Inc - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2004 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved