Gone But Not Forgotten

American readers of bestselling novels do seem to have a taste for rather vicious stories. In a lot of these books, the baddie doesn't quietly do someone in with arsenic as in a lot of Agatha Christie novels. Instead, victims are tortured before the coup de grace, often in some rural setting like a swamp or a barn with implements similar to the instruments of torture used during interrogations in the Middle Ages. Maybe American's taste for the ghoulish shouldn't be surprising given that this country boasts sustaining some of the most gruesome of crimes, such as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders of the 1930's or the Zodiac killer of the late 1960's and 1970's. The average American could be equally entertained (or repulsed, depending upon your point of view) by devouring true crime books as well as crime fiction. "Gone But Not Forgotten" is a novel adapted for cable that chronicles two series of heinous crimes, both 10 years apart.

Scott Glenn, in maybe the most fiendish role of his career, portrays Martin Darius, a Sacramento magnate-developer who may have had a previous life in upstate New York in a small town called Hunter's Point where his wife and daughter were mercilessly dispatched. Fast-forward 10 years. He has now changed his name and swings big development deals in Sacramento, California. There, a serial kidnapper is on the loose who has a taste for young uppity women who are both attractive and rich. The kidnapper snatches each woman and leaves a calling card that says "Gone But Not Forgotten" along with a black rose. It is unclear whether these victims are alive or dead. Ten years earlier, there was also a serial kidnapper in Hunter's Point who did the same thing: kidnap a young beautiful woman from society's upper-crust and leave the same calling card with a similar black rose.

When the authorities learn that one of the victims had been having an affair with Darius, he becomes a suspect. He entices up-and-coming crackerjack attorney Betsy Tannenbaum (Brooke Shields) to take his case, partially by offering a $100,000 fee of attainder. Alan Page (played by Lou Diamond Philips) is the detective on the case who also begins researching the crimes at Hunter's Point. He is unexpectedly visited by a detective from New York, Nancy Gordon played by Marilu Henner (of Taxi fame), who had been on the Hunter's Point case. But strangely, the files regarding the Hunter Point case are missing. And then Henner goes missing. Both Shields and Philips decide to investigate further at Hunter's Point, 3000 miles away.

A decent but rather brutal crime drama. At one point, a lot of characters end up murdered. The final solution is interesting if not incredibly disturbing. This may not be as brutal as the recent film "The Changeling" but it comes close. Not for the feint of heart. Although I believe in the freedom of entertainment, I do have to wonder what purpose it serves for people to continue devouring material of such gruesome content.

When I got the movie at the video store I noticed that Brooke Shields was in it and was not a great fan of hers. After seeing the movie I was pleasantly surprised. She got down and dirty and was believable in the part. The actors were great for the parts that they played. Unlike some movies of that type you don't get lost in the complexity of the script. The beginning of the movie lays out the scenario well leading into the actions of the lead players. It has a good story and special effects and lots of action. Afterwards I found out it was a made for TV movie. That was another surprise because I thought, by its quality, that it was on the big screen. Although it is almost 3 hours long, the pace makes the time slip away quickly because you are on the edge of your seat through most of the last 3/4 of the movie. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks for your time. Moby

Terrible TV flick with bad casting except for Scott Glenn, who manages to hold his own in a trivial badly written and directed script. Hard to believe Brooke Shields can do anything important but pose as she does in this. Marilu Henner should stick to comedy.

Some of the situations were so unrealistic and far fetched I began to laugh at the screen. That someone can get away with crashing a police station without being captured is silly and hard to believe. This dame can just enter and kill at her leisure and no one stops her. One gentlemen could have just smacked her across the face and saved his life. That she could over power him is one of the silly nonsense this film expects you to believe.

Don't waste your money or time on this loser. Except to watch Scott Glenn make the best of a bad scenario.

I'll cut to the chase... I never read the novel on which it's based nor know the writer but saw this TV version because it stars Scott Glenn despite the low score and he often manages to be better than the movies he does, and here it was once again the case.

Elizabeth Tannenbaum (Brooke Shields) is a defense attorney that has just won a case of domestic violence when she is hired by reclusive and shady businessman Martin Darius (Glenn) to defend him against allegations of having murdered many young women, a private investigator and then dumped all the bodies in a construction site because there lots of holes can be covered easily. Unfortunately Darius' past comes back to him and Elizabeth has to race against time for finding the real killer before he can strike again, and she ends up helped by district attorney Alan Page (Lou Diamond Phillips) and Raymond Colby (William Atherton) once he becomes a US Senator and works for the Department of justice.

The idea was good and it could make for a decent TV movie. The problems are that the movie itself was a bit too long: I mean, was there a need of making it 3 hours long? It could have been easily split in a two parts' miniseries. And the subject itself is a bit scary if you think about it.

Not an exceptional TV thriller but still a decent one if you don't have absolutely anything to do.

I saw this movie in the video store but was reluctant to rent for one simple reason,it is three hours long and I don't have that much spare time on my hands. However, since there was not anything else there worth renting Itook it and watched it in intervals. It was worth every second. Actually, the intervals were torture because there is a lot of suspense going on there. The cast is good especially Brookes Shield and all the others. There are many spoilers which I wont disclose. Anyone out there for a good thriller in the "basic instincts" style but without the sex scenes.... got for it. This will keep you on the edge until the final moment.