By Drew Dietsch
| Published
Hey y’all, Drew Dietsch here for Giant Freakin Robot and I’m always on the hunt for wacko movies that no one ever seems to talk about, and if they’re from the ‘90s, that’s even better.
During one of my dumpster dives, I found the exact diamond in the rough I was looking for.
A ludicrous sci-fi medical murder mystery with an incredible cast, polished cinematography, a go-for-broke premise, and the perfect title for a movie everyone seems to have forgotten.
This is Unforgettable from 1996, not to be confused with the 2017 Rosario Dawson/Katherine Heigl movie everyone also forgot about.
Basically, don’t call your movie Unforgettable.
One good thing about that title is that we get a title sequence, something I miss so much in movies today. This one doubles down and even has the title inside the title!
The story immediately starts with a gruesome murder scene in a convenience store, introducing us to city medical examiner David Krane, played by the dearly missed Ray Liotta.
David comes across a curled-up matchbook at the scene that looks identical to one found at his own wife’s murder scene.
We find out David was arrested and nearly found guilty of his wife’s murder before the case was dismissed due to an official error. But now, even his kids believe he killed their mother.
David learns Dr. Martha Briggs, played by Men in Black’s own Linda Fiorentino, has been able to extract the memories of lab rats through a formula that uses their cerebral spinal fluid.
So what does he do? He steals her formula and his dead wife’s brain juice and shoots them up to try and learn the identity of her killer, leading him to reliving his own wife’s murder.
And then he gets the brain juice from one of the victims in the opening convenience store murder scene, and because this victim was an art student, now he can draw a perfect portrait of the killer.
And it gets nuttier from there but this is a mystery movie so I don’t want to reveal too much more of the plot.
Suffice to say, twists and turns abound and David keeps finding reasons for more brain juice sessions as he drags Martha into his manic quest for the truth. And it turns out taking a bunch of cerebral spinal fluid isn’t good for you!
It’s not hard to see why Unforgettable got ignored by audiences and sliced to ribbons by critics. Just look at this line from Roger Ebert’s one-and a-half star review: “This is one of the most convoluted, preposterous movies I’ve seen.”
Unforgettable is undeniably a wackadoo premise made all the more strange by the movie being completely earnest with itself.
But that leads to a compelling and committed performance from Ray Liotta who anchors the whole endeavor.
Liotta was one of the best actors of his generation. His emotional investment into the character and story make the ridiculous brain juice murder mystery buy-in so much easier because you see he believes it.
This serious tone with the story also means that Unforgettable doesn’t look cheap or cartoony. Director John Dahl with director of photography Jeffrey Jur give the flick some real polish without shoving style in your face.
There’s just a lot of sharp lighting and color in this flick that makes it stand out in comparison to today’s digital sludge.
In addition to the cast I’ve mentioned, Unforgettable is loaded with home run dependable actors like Peter Coyote, David Paymer, Kim Cattrall, Shooter McGavin himself, Christopher McDonald. All of them knock their simple but engaging roles out of the park.
A special shout-out to Kim Coates for being one of the best-looking cinema slimeballs ever in this.
Now, admittedly, Unforgettable does suffer from some pretty common problems that can crop up in the mystery genre.
The actual detecting David and Martha do isn’t super satisfying because it really boils down to just getting more of that sweet, sweet brain juice.
And though the eventual reveals all fall into place, it’s more pieces in the puzzle than it probably needs and a lot of them come at the very tail-end of the movie.
Not to mention that this isn’t the kind of mystery movie that’s rewarding on rewatch for those who love spotting clues or foreshadowing.
So if you can’t click into pure pulp pleasures, the lack of a super satisfying mystery is likely going to be a deal-breaker.
But in my book, Unforgettable has plenty of other gifts to give.
If you need some more prodding to get interested in Unforgettable, let’s revisit Roger Ebert’s one-and-a-half star review and tell me this doesn’t pique your interest:
“Unforgettable is a thriller crossed with lots of Mad Scientist stuff, plus wild chases, a shoot-out in a church, a woman taped to a chair in a burning room, an exploding university building, adultery, a massacre in a drugstore, gruesome autopsy scenes and even a moment when a character’s life flashes before her eyes.”
I always appreciate genre movies that don’t ever feel ashamed of embracing their genres. Unforgettable gives itself over completely to its bonkers idea and doesn’t second-guess itself or make apologies for its over-the-top premise.
It doesn’t have to assure the audience and say, “We’re not actually taking this seriously,” which can often feel like an issue in today’s mainstream genre offerings.
For example, I didn’t see the movie Novocaine because that premise sounded legitimately interesting but the entire presentation around the movie felt as goofy and as amped-up as possible, and it made it seem like the entire artistic production was little more than a gag.
Granted, that movie wanted to be a comedy, and maybe it’s a good one, I don’t know, but it made me wish for more gonzo genre stories that don’t need to treat those gonzo genre ideas as a joke.
Unforgettable is a pretty solid example of just that. Thanks to a cast and filmmakers that are operating on the same wavelength, it’s a nifty little thrill ride made remarkably well for the time.
It’s not going to rewrite the book on cinema or provide something truly unseen before, but it’s got energy and never gets boring.
Let’s take one last line from the man who gave Spawn three-and-a-half stars. Here’s Ebert saying something about Unforgettable that sounds way more like an endorsement than a condemnation:
“In the annals of cinematic goofiness, Unforgettable deserves a place of honor.”
I don’t subscribe to the ideas of “guilty pleasures” or “so bad it’s good” when it comes to enjoying art. I like things from a place of sincerity and pride, and I resonate with the proud sincerity Unforgettable showcases.
It’s a bonus when that genuine nature is in service of a wackadoo story. And I can confidently call Unforgettable a wackadoo story that’s worth your time.
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