By Gil Milanes
“Unforgettable” is a female centered film focused on a love triangle that lacks true-to-life drama and fails to show genuine emotions. Rosario Dawson as Julia, Katherine Heigl as Tessa, and Geoff Stults as David star alongside Cheryl Ladd and Isabella Rice in this R rated Warner Brothers film.
“Unforgettable” focuses on a year in the life of Julia, Tess and David. In that short period, the cast fails to properly portray what actually happens in a real-life divorce. Often, divorce creates tension between the persons involved.
In the film, the main characters don’t show any of that emotion. Instead, Tessa and David act civilized as if there was no love ever between them, even though they have a seven-year-old daughter. The acting could have been better, especially in Stults’ portrayal as David. His character is mellow, even in scenes where he’s supposed to be tough.
The film begins with the end of the story to capture the audience’s attention, and to make moviegoers wonder why Julia is being interrogated with a face full of wounds. There are stereotypes throughout the film, particularly between the two main characters. Tessa has long blonde hair, dresses formal in light colors and drives what seems to be an expensive car. Julia, however, has darker skin, black curly hair, wears shorts and drives a small Ford.
Julia seems to come from a working class background, and is portrayed as a weak woman. Tessa, on the other hand, comes from an upper-class background, is obsessed with perfection and is portrayed as a strong woman who handles conflict differently.
During a confrontation between Julia and Tessa, Julia cries and wonders if she can keep up her relationship with David, while Tessa goes horseback riding to release her anger.
Tessa’s mother, played by Cheryl Ladd, encoded the idea of perfection into her. Her obsession with perfection is so ridiculous, for example, she criticizes Tessa for not having her silverware well polished.
Both Tessa and her mother act independent, but Tessa’s mother contradicts that by claiming to Tessa that she has done everything to help her have David by her side.
The female actors do a good job portraying their characters, though they could show more emotion.
The story is, for the most part, predictable. It follows the typical Hollywood structure, where the bad character dies and the good characters have their happy ending.
Even though the writer of “Unforgettable” is a woman, it doesn’t seem like either female characters were empowering or empowered by their story line.
The film lacked focus in some details. Julia never visited Tessa’s home, but somehow Julia knows where Tessa lives, as well as her way around the house.
Some camera angles are distorted. In some scenes, images looked blurry and seemed like it was not done intentionally.
It seems like the camera was defective during filming and production opted to ignore the problem by not reshooting.
“Unforgettable” could have been a better film if it was more relatable. The director fails to make sure the cast portrays emotion.
The time lapse was too condensed and that could have been the reason why the cast couldn’t execute the acting properly.
by Rosario Dawson, with a cake at her job’s going away party. COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES