UNFORGETTABLE (2017) – Review

Time for another cinematic trek to the land of “second chance” romance, where those wounded lovers get another try at happiness in a picture-perfect little town complete with a cozy home (fireplace included, of course) and an adorable moppet. But this journey to a happy ending can’t be a smooth one. The fly in the ointment (or the more crass “t%#d in the punch bowl) is the more than a little unhinged ex. Then the trip goes from hearts and flowers to demented nannies and boiled bunny rabbits. Perhaps as a way to mark the 30th anniversary of FATAL ATTRACTION, movie-goers are  now treated to a “female-centric” take on torture and turmoil mixed with thwarted desire and homicide in UNFORGETTABLE.

We first meet a battered and bruised Julia Banks (Rosario Dawson) as she is interrogated by a pair of somber stoic police detectives. Ms B is in big trouble as her accusers show her loads of bagged evidence. To see just how she got in this mess, the story flashes back six months, to Julia’s last day of work at a San Francisco-based publishing house. After her going-away bash, she piles everything into her cute lil’ car and drives to a bucolic Southern California burg where she meets her fiance David Connover (Geoff Stults). She’ll edit manuscripts at his opulent two-story home while he runs his beer-brewing company (started after he left the world of high finance). Julia’s still a bit on edge, seeing flashes of her abusive ex-boyfriend, who’s now out of the slammer with the restraining order about to expire (she’s not told David about that and the fact that she received psychiatric support). And then she meets David’s adorable nine year-old daughter Lily (Isabella Kai Rice) and her mother, David’s former wife Tessa (Katherine Heigl). Tessa has joint custody and resides in the same town (though she has not found a new beau). The awkward tension is thick, but the ladies put on a friendly face for Lily and David. The women have several strained encounters at home and in the village square until things seem to boil over at a big company party for David’s brewery business. After offering an uncomfortable toast, Tessa snatches Julia’s phone (as she and David share a dance). This theft is just the starting point for Tessa’s campaign of terror against Julia, one that involves a home invasion, identity theft, and eventually murder. Is Julia emotionally strong enough to endure this living “H-E-double hockey sticks” that Tessa orchestrates?

After years of terrific supporting work (including her role in all of the Netflix Marvel streaming shows), Dawson is more than up to the task of portraying the lead, the hero really, of this thriller. We’re rooting for Julia, even though there are lots of chips and cracks in her warrior armor. Dawson shows us her joyful spirit in the romantic scenes and her playful side in the scenes with Lily, but there’s that dark cloud looming overhead. She’s more than a little secretive of her past and fearful that it will thwart her new start. She’s the one we’re rooting for, but Heigl seems to be having more fun as the wicked “rhymes-with witch” Tessa. The actress has been the “diva demon” of the tabloids for the past few years (“difficult’ is the go-to label) and with this film Heigl seems to be doing the movie career variation of “turning into the skid” with this over the top, often bug-eyed, shrieking “ice queen”, parodying her perceived image, as much of a slam of those “perfect mothers” as any of the villains of the recent comedy BAD MOMS. If she were a guy she’d be twirling her mustache as she devises her revenge via social media and modern tech. I look forward to Halloween costumes Tessa will certainly spawn. Stults brings a little extra gravitas to the thankless role of the clueless hunk at the center of this war (although we often wonder what the two ladies see in this dimbulb). Kai Rice is sympathetic and sweet as the preteen pawn in this struggle. Stand-up comic (and TV sitcom creator)Whitney Cummings is rather wasted in the cliché “funny supportive brassy best pal” part, though it could easily been the “gay BFF next door”. The best surprise might be Cheryl Ladd, yes, one of Charlie’s Angels, as Tessa’s malevolent mama, proving that the bad (or sour) doesn’t fall far from the tree. She’s a nice variation of the “smiling cobra”.

 
Best known as a producer (frequently working with Tim Burton) Denise Di Novi has picked this odd “throw-back” thriller for her feature film directing debut. Its theme and execution do harken back to the early nineties nail-biters. These “deranged intruder invading a happy family” have found a new home away from the multiplex for the last decade or so, taking up residence on basic cable TV. To cut to the chase, this flick is like a “super” Lifetime (or its sister outlets) weekend premiere. Although, it often plays as a parody, much like the Will Ferrell/ Kristen Wiig satire/homage A Deadly Adoption” in 2015. Same quaint and quiet unnamed coastal village packed with perfect houses and friendly, ethnic and racially diverse neighbors. But of course this story is fronted by film stars rather than former TV series staples. Sure, it’s great that two actresses get above the title billing, but they spend much of the plot merely sparring over a man. There’s the slow build-up of “digs” and devious schemes (one resorts to the easy “hook” of child endangerment), but the pacing is diluted by several odd detours. A strange lunch date between Julia and Tessa has a weird pay-off with an awkward, almost public, sex scene (almost as odd as Tessa’s hostile “revenge humping” of a waiter). Of course, most audiences are waiting for the big physical “throw-down” between the two leads. Happily it delivers more than the old “Dynasty” nighttime soap slugfests (Evans and Collins never came close to landing a blow), but the resolution doesn’t feel logical (harkening back to FATAL ATTRACTION’s original ending which tested poorly with preview audiences). We’re then treated to an epilogue written to disturb (and maybe set up a sequel), but it plays as hilariously overwrought high camp. It would be a cheap-shot to say how forgettable UNFORGETTABLE, but considering some of the talent involved, “unremarkable” is the better phrase.

1.5 Out of 5