The final film for two legends is upon us—Not to Forget—starring Olympia Dukakis and Cloris Leachman in small, but important roles. But this is firmly a story about Chris (Tate Dewey), a millennial who has been living without a father or mother and getting by with scamming average folks in New York City.
When he gets caught, he gets sent to his grandmother’s house in the middle of nowhere for a month of house arrest. Tate reluctantly goes and meets Joe (Kevin Hardesty), who is looking after Miss Melody (Karen Grassle), as they call Chris’ grandma. Joe sets down the law, talking about long hours of working the farm, helping Joe where he needs it and generally being on time for dinner and staying to the house as the judge (Dukakis) ordered.
Thing is, it’s hard to take the scammer out of the grifter, so immediately he sees an opportunity. The farm, and the land that stretches for miles, makes him see dollar signs. But a funny thing happens over the course of Not to Forget, that innate desire to steal seems to be being replaced by something led by a heart.
Melody has Alzheimer’s and she is deteriorating and it’s a powerful turn by Grassle, who is such a love—it’s impossible to not want to give her a hug. It also works because the narrative has twisted your heart in circles with this woman and are immediately overwhelmed by the sense that Chris better not do anything to rip off his grandmother. Chris’ city crew shows up and they start devising scams to get Chris in the will. How this goes, you’ll have to find out.
<iframe width="693" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/24jR6J8hCRM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>The performances across the board are solid, especially Dewey, who could have been a cardboard cutout character of dozens of souls we’ve seen before on the screen. Instead, this is a complicated young man, and rightfully so—we learn. It’s what he does with that anger and resentment that sets the performance apart. If he can turn it around… that is the crux of this drama.
Writer-director Valerio Zanoli has an impeccable and even hand with the pacing, both dramatic and emotive. This film wouldn’t work otherwise. This is a thespian driven tale, in that the actors are our focus. But Not to Forget is also very much a reminder that film is a director’s medium and Zanoli nailed the tone and tenor.
The overwhelming message here is not necessarily about second chances. It’s about family and the power of that unconditional love to overcome the harshest of circumstances and yes, upbringings. Not to Forget never forgets one thing, that adoration, caring, helping one another and being a good human being is as important as it gets in this thing called life.
Not to Forget has some so-called “Hallmark movie of the week” tendencies, but it goes much deeper. This has a production value worthy of a “film” and not the small screen—although it is just as affective on a TV versus the big screen. It is the type of cinematic experience that will leave you with a smile on your face and likely lead to you wanting to reach out and repair familial fences that are desperately in need of mending.
Grade: B+
