Originality: Forgotten

Remember a little while ago, that show about some dude and some chick investigating the paranormal? The man was some wise-cracking white guy, the woman had red hair? They would go on adventures or something...get chased by the government, uncover conspiracies and always find themselves in life-threatening situations? Not ringing a bell?

Good.

The Forgotten is about a wise-cracking white guy and a red-headed woman being chased by the government and finding themselves in life-threatening situations. The redhead is Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore), a psychologically scarred mother who lost her son in a plane crash. She sees a therapist, smells her son's old stuff, and seems hellbent on clenching every memory she has left of little Sam. But one day her therapist (Gary Sinise) breaks it to her bad; her memories are false. There was no crash, there was no Sam. Nine years of mommy memories down the drain.

Still, Telly's convinced everyone else is insane: her husband, who didn't want to deliver the bad news, her next door neighbor, who claims no, she didn't babysit any "Sam," and her therapist, who's even diagnosed her as a candidate for the strait jacket.

So Telly takes refuge with Ash Correll (Dominic West), a lonely alcoholic who lives alone in his flat. What he's forgotten is that he used to live with his daughter, or that he even had one in the first place. Telly tries to convince him otherwise; she remembers the crash took both their children. And boom. His memory is triggered, they've remembered what they weren't supposed to, and now they're both on the run from those evil men with long jackets, FBI badges and a tendency to say "we are not at liberty to discuss that."

Next thing you know, Ash and Telly are Mulder and Scully, deducting their way down to an answer you probably guessed from the previews. The detective act of the movie loses what juice the beginning had, but it's sprinkled with a few shock shots to make you jump. On the whole, though, The Forgotten is not edge-of-your-seat material. You'll be at the middle of your seat at the most.

The Forgotten is somewhat fun, but it's bogged down by too many flaws to be fully enjoyable. Over-the-top acting, lulling action about a bazillion flashbacks make the movie more forgettable than it could have been.

Not to mention a hackneyed explanation Hollywood never gets tired of in the sci-fi flicks. The rationalization as to the supernatural occurrences plaguing our main characters is more of a deja vu experience than a revelation. It's been done, it's been done, it's been done to death. Maybe they were just hoping we wouldn't remember.

The Forgotten (89 minutes) is rated PG-13 for violence, profanity and adult themes