Heigl is scary and scorned
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a love triangle go awry–when an ex-husband finds a new woman to love, but his scorned ex isn’t having it. The latest film to hit the big screen with this premise is “Unforgettable,” co-starring Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson. Dawson is Julia Banks, an emotionally fragile woman fleeing an abusive relationship, who finds love again. Heigl is the ex-wife who wants to reunite her family.
Julia finds love with mild-mannered, but gentle David Conniver (Geoff Stults). He’s a divorced single father of Lily (Isabella Kai Rice) and his rigid ex-wife Tessa (Katherine Heigl),is a control freak, addicted to perfection. Thing is, Tessa isn’t over David and sees Julia as an annoying speed bump on her road to a happy family reunion.
Tessa does just about everything to get rid of her ex’s new love, short of running Julia over with her pricey European automobile. The ironic part is that Julia recently fled a bad relationship with an abusive man, and finds herself smack dab in the center of a majorly dysfunctional family scenario, where the ex-wife finds her very expendable.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the film–these type of emotional thrillers with a psycho ex, tend to fall flat. However, this film had something special–Katherine Heigl. Heigl is more known for playing the cute paramour of some handsome hunk in a chick flick. In this film, she’s an ex-wife gone mad and she does it so well!
Her starkly straight, pale blonde hair and stoic face is reminiscent of a ice queen you might find in a spooky bedtime fairytale. Because of Heigl’s typical softer image, it makes it ever so shocking to see her in a role where she is so menacing. She is the component that makes this film engaging and entertaining. Here’s a few scenes that exemplify why Heigl is the perfect woman scorned.
Vanity
Tessa does what most moms do, she shares beauty secrets with her daughter. But she is so obsessed with her own beauty that it becomes her undoing.
Single White Female
Remember the scene from the film “Single White Female” (1992), when Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character steals the style of the object of her obsession? Well, there’s a bit of that in this film too, and this chic little white dress is at the center of it all.
A Riding Lesson
Just picture Joan Crawford in her ‘No wire hangers’ voice saying “Ride this horse.” Creepy, huh? Well that’s the gist of this scene. Lily will pay dearly for not listening to mommy dearest.
Like mother, like daughter
Tessa’s rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Her mom, played by Cheryl Ladd, is her times ten. In most of these kind of movies, there’s bad parenting behind all the crazy. When you watch this scene, you’ll be thinking–like mother, like daughter.
I’ll never let you go
You can see the breaking point come when the over-obsessed ex tries to calmly explain all her craziness, while holding a red-hot poker. But, these types of conversation don’t usually end well for the object of desire.
Release date: April 21st
RADAR RATING
Pros
- Cast
- Costumes
Cons
- Plot Theme
- Predictable
