"Not Forgotten" probably won't do much to enhance U.S./Mexico relations. Set in Del Rio, Texas, a town located just north of the border, this thriller stars "The Mentalist"s Simon Baker as a loan officer whose daughter is kidnapped by a bloodthirsty religious cult that, we're told, has achieved widespread notoreity in Mexico.
"Not Forgotten" - which is strong on atmosphere and milieu and weak on anything even remotely resembling suspense - features all the red herrings, false leads and narrative blind alleys that we've come to expect from such films, with each of the characters harboring some deep dark secret from the past that, when it is finally revealed, turns out to be a surprise only to the other characters in the story. For, indeed, when the most likely suspect turns out to be the actual culprit in the end, you know that the screenplay could probably have used a few more runs through the typewriter before going before the cameras.
"Not Forgotten" - which is strong on atmosphere and milieu and weak on anything even remotely resembling suspense - features all the red herrings, false leads and narrative blind alleys that we've come to expect from such films, with each of the characters harboring some deep dark secret from the past that, when it is finally revealed, turns out to be a surprise only to the other characters in the story. For, indeed, when the most likely suspect turns out to be the actual culprit in the end, you know that the screenplay could probably have used a few more runs through the typewriter before going before the cameras.