Unforgettable (D+ or 1/4 stars)
When wealthy David Connover (Geoff Stults) gets engaged to Julia Banks (Rosario Dawson) after his divorce from Tessa (Katherine Heigl), he has no idea what craziness is about to ensue. As 'Unforgettable' (a psycho-sexual thriller directed by Denise di Novi) begins, beaten-up Julia is being interrogated as the only suspect in the murder of her abusive ex, Michael Vargas (a brooding Simon Kassianides), against whom she - at one time - had a restraining order. The plot jumps back 6 months to when Julia left San Fran to start life anew in a SoCal suburb with her fiance David & his cute young daughter, Lily (Isabella Kai Rice).
But when venomous, icy blonde Tessa – Lily's possessive mommy – sees how happy he is with Julia, she's crushed. Her brittle vulnerability is enhanced more so because she's never been able to live up to the expectations of her own perfectionist mom, Helen (Cheryl Ladd, where have you been?). In an insane attempt to salvage her dead relationship with David, sociopathic Tessa sets up a fake Facebook page for Julia, contacts abusive ex Michael, & starts using Lily to subtly pit Julia against David. When matters turn violent, Julia must hope to have enough evidence to prove that Tessa is behind this devious, vengeful plot. Mayhem ensues.
'Unforgettable'? How about unforgivable {haha}. By the way, the word "unforgettable" has nothing to do with the movie at hand. While this film IS getting ravaged by professional critics, enough of them are saying 'oh, at least it is trashy fun'. No, no, no. The direction is bland. The camerawork is glossy, yet dull. The writing is both flimsy & convoluted. The 'thrills' are empty because they just pit nasty characters against dumb-dumbs. Each character continues to do one stupid thing after the next. The dialogue is awkward; one of those films where normal human conversations don't exist. And the acting is nothing to write home. I'd say Rosario Dawson comes out of this best. Katherine Heigl plays sinister & loathsome very well, but I don't think that's much of a stretch for her.
Every character in this thing is a stereotype. And I did not care about any of the good characters' fates. Sure, I wanted the 'bad' character to go down hard, but that's it. As for the actual thriller stuff that occurs throughout the film - and culminating in the ridiculous climax - the thrills/scares are pretty laugh-worthy. And yet, worst of all, I felt like I've seen this film -or a variation of this film - a hundred times before. It is SO unoriginal; so formulaic. We've seen this story before in 1987's Fatal Attraction and every single other vengeful thriller that's come down the pike ever since. For some folks, 'Unforgettable' could be viewed as so-bad-it's-funny film experience, but I found it fairly irredeemable; punctuated by a bozo final scene. Blech.
But when venomous, icy blonde Tessa – Lily's possessive mommy – sees how happy he is with Julia, she's crushed. Her brittle vulnerability is enhanced more so because she's never been able to live up to the expectations of her own perfectionist mom, Helen (Cheryl Ladd, where have you been?). In an insane attempt to salvage her dead relationship with David, sociopathic Tessa sets up a fake Facebook page for Julia, contacts abusive ex Michael, & starts using Lily to subtly pit Julia against David. When matters turn violent, Julia must hope to have enough evidence to prove that Tessa is behind this devious, vengeful plot. Mayhem ensues.
'Unforgettable'? How about unforgivable {haha}. By the way, the word "unforgettable" has nothing to do with the movie at hand. While this film IS getting ravaged by professional critics, enough of them are saying 'oh, at least it is trashy fun'. No, no, no. The direction is bland. The camerawork is glossy, yet dull. The writing is both flimsy & convoluted. The 'thrills' are empty because they just pit nasty characters against dumb-dumbs. Each character continues to do one stupid thing after the next. The dialogue is awkward; one of those films where normal human conversations don't exist. And the acting is nothing to write home. I'd say Rosario Dawson comes out of this best. Katherine Heigl plays sinister & loathsome very well, but I don't think that's much of a stretch for her.
Every character in this thing is a stereotype. And I did not care about any of the good characters' fates. Sure, I wanted the 'bad' character to go down hard, but that's it. As for the actual thriller stuff that occurs throughout the film - and culminating in the ridiculous climax - the thrills/scares are pretty laugh-worthy. And yet, worst of all, I felt like I've seen this film -or a variation of this film - a hundred times before. It is SO unoriginal; so formulaic. We've seen this story before in 1987's Fatal Attraction and every single other vengeful thriller that's come down the pike ever since. For some folks, 'Unforgettable' could be viewed as so-bad-it's-funny film experience, but I found it fairly irredeemable; punctuated by a bozo final scene. Blech.