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Cottonwood Heights Journal

Dan's Review: Nothing memorable about "Unforgetable"

Apr 21, 2017 10:09PM ● By Dan Metcalf

Rosario Dawson and Katherine Heigl in Unforgettable - © 2017 Warner Bros.

Unforgettable (Warner Bros.)

Rated R for sexual content, violence, some language, and brief partial nudity.

Starring Katherine Heigl, Rosario Dawson, Geoff Stults, Isabella Rice, Cheryl Ladd, Simon Kassianides, Whitney Cummings, Robert Wisdom.

Written by Christina Hodson and David Leslie Johnson.

Directed by Denise Di Novi.

GRADE: D+

REVIEW:

Trouble with the “ex,” man. Happens all the time. Such drama is fodder for Lifetime network movies, but perhaps a little too maudlin for feature films these days. A troubled ex-wife is the subject of Unforgettable, in theaters this weekend.

Rosario Dawson plays Julia, a physical abuse survivor engaged to the divorced David (Geoff Stults), who is father to 10-year-old Lily (Isabella Rice) and ex-husband to Tessa (Katherine Heigl). Leaving her profession as an online editor in San Francisco to pursue a happy life with David and Lilly, Julia moves to a small southern California town, where she meets Tessa. At first, the two women are cordial and civil, but Tessa eventually shows her nasty side, manipulating Lily and Davis to turn them against Julia. Tessa’s mother (Cheryl Ladd) is around to continually show her disappointment in her daughter’s failed marriage and the way she raises her granddaughter. Tessa’s rag increases and she eventually steals Julia’s phone to hack into her personal life. She discovers that Julia’s attacker Michael (Simon Kassianides) has been released from jail, and hatches a plan to lure him back into a relationship. Michael shows up a Julia’s home, thinking she’s sexually attracted in some perverse way, leading to a scuffle that leads to his death, and Julia farmed for murder. When Davis finds out, he begins to doubt Julia’s stability as a stepmom. He soon discovers the truth behind Tessa’s scheme but not before his life and Lily’s are put in danger by his unhinged ex. Julia comes to the rescue to do battle with Tessa in a fight to the finish.

Unforgettable would be more appropriately titled if you were to drop the “un” part, since there is nothing memorable about it. Additionally, there is nothing original, compelling or suspenseful in the movie, right down to the unsurprising climactic “catfight,” complete with aggressive one-liners reminiscent of so many “Fatal Attraction”-like movies of the 80s and 90s. Unforgettable might be one of those Lifetime TV movies, if not for the R-rated language and some sexuality.

For added measure, Unforgettable tacks on a cryptic epilogue that leaves the audience with expectations of a sequel involving “Grandma” Cheryl Ladd, not that anyone would really want one.


Unforgettable Trailer