Kevins self deprecation is painful to watch. His self-hatred, awkward mannerisms and severely strained social interactions are almost unbearable. Denhams portrayal of Kevin is highly effective and well acted, but its not an enjoyable performance to watch. His assistant Jamie (Lindsay Beamish) is even more socially awkward than Kevin. She talks constantly, berates herself, and screams at her own reflection. She pines for Kevin, Kevin pines for his clients. No one is happy.
Forgetting the Girl is heavy on character development. We get as much back story as we could ever want on Kevin Wolfe. I learned more than I ever wanted to about his demented psyche. I was surprised by what I got with Forgetting the Girl. I was expecting a horror flick, but, it isnt really a horror flick at all. Its a psychological drama with some horror elements thrown in at the end.
Forgetting the Girl is moody and artistic. However, no part of it is enjoyable to watch. Its depressing. It left me feeling really poorly. None of the characters are likeable. For as fleshed out as the cast is, I would expect to feel something other than disdain for at least one person in the film, but I didnt.
As far as the pacing goes, its really, really slow for the first 85 minutes. And, then its over.
While Forgetting the Girl is well written, well acted, and fairly well directed, it lacks any real excitement. Its slow as hell. It makes an attempt at slow burn, but it never really catches fire. For slow burn to be effective, it requires the film to build a mounting sense of tension, a genuine feeling of dread. That doesnt happen here. There isnt any buildup. Its an hour of character development and twenty-five minutes of violent aftermath. Forgetting the Girl lacks that atmospheric quality that films that effectively execute slow burn possess. I spent the majority of the films running time in a chronic state of waiting for something to happen. When the very minor payoff finally takes place, I was like who cares? I sat here in a bored stupor for what felt like an eternity for that? Over sixty minutes of build up for a pretty tame finale is not worth it.
Forgetting the Girl is well made. But, in terms of entertainment value, there really was none. I definitely dont want to see it again. Its good as a character study and its good in terms of chronicling Kevins decent in to madness, but I derived no pleasure from watching any of it.
There are almost no gore effects. What little violence we see was well done. However, the body count is really, really low. The body count is like one.
Currently, Forgetting the Girl has been playing the festival circuit but hasnt been picked up for distribution. We will keep you apprised as to when you can check it out for yourself, although, Im not really sure that you should. In fact, I think you should just pass.
