Unforgettable (2017)

“Unforgettable” stars Katherine Heigl, Rosario Dawson, Geoff Stults, and Isabella Rice.  Released on April 21, 2017, the film is about a stepmother who is haunted by a mentally unstable divorced mother.

The film features the directorial debut of well known producer Denise Di Novi.  Interesting fact about Di Novi: she produced six Tim Burton films, like Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns, and four Nicholas Sparks films, like A Walk to Remember and The Lucky One.  You’re probably wondering why I went to see this film.  Well, for starters, my reviewing instincts told me to, but more importantly, I want to see how it turns out even though I knew exactly how it’s going to go down from the trailers alone.  I’m no stranger to the obsession-type thriller genre, especially since I saw such films as Obsessed, The Perfect Guy, and last year’s When the Bough Breaks.  After seeing those films, it’s quite obvious to me that the genre has given me the cold shoulder, mostly because I grew tired of watching dumb people with obsession issues commit such idiotic acts in order to get what they want.  This film doesn’t look like it has learned its lesson, resulting in something that is the complete opposite of its title.

If you’ve seen the trailer for yourself or you’ve seen the other films that I mentioned in the last paragraph, then this film will be nothing different to you.  However, if you’ve grown tired of these types of movies, like myself, then I can assure you, you’ll probably suffer from the same beats as the other obsession thrillers.  The story is so predictable and so full of cliches that it’s almost like I was watching the same situation as before.  In fact, before I saw the film, I already knew what was going to happen to Tessa, played by Heigl who turned in a pretty engaging performance by the way.  It really doesn’t add anything different to the formula, which could turn off some people who didn’t like it to begin with.  I think if you take away the obsessive plot element, this film could work as some sort of drama about the post-divorce stage of marriage and Heigl’s character’s internal struggle of moving on and accepting her ex-husband’s new wife (Dawson) as a part of the family.  It would still have a weak screenplay that failed to pull any heartstrings, but at least it wouldn’t be as dumb or stale as its usual thriller aspect.  The first half of the film took a while to get things cooking, mostly because of the film’s slow pacing.  Afterwards, it pretty much offered what I expected it to offer, much to the naysayers’ dismay.

Overall, Katherine Heigl definitely showed off her dark side in “Unforgettable”.  Unfortunately, the film’s obsession over its tiresome formula, weak script, and its stale thriller aspect kept her from truly shining alongside her female co-star.  It’s probably my fault for not liking it so much because after watching When the Bough Breaks, I quickly started to get used to the genre’s pattern, which made my experience far less exciting than usual.  I would say this film is fine for those who need another dose of obsession thrillers, but unless they find a way to spice up the formula a bit, this genre might wind up killing itself in the future.

F