MOORE RISES ABOVE `FORGOTTEN' FLAWS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

BROOKLYN housewife Telly Paretta is in serious grief. Her beloved 8-year-old son, Sam, was lost in a plane crash 14 months ago, and she still spends her days tearfully examining photos and home videos of the boy.

Understandable enough until, that is, the photo albums' pages and videotapes suddenly turn blank, and everyone around her - husband, shrink, neighbor who baby-sat - tells her that Sam never existed in the first place.

For a few minutes there, ``The Forgotten'' looks like it might be an intriguing study of a delusional woman's crackup. Especially since Telly is played by Julianne Moore, an actress who has proven capable of taking characters to the far reaches of psychic disconnection while still maintaining an iron grip on the individual's subjective logic, we could be forgiven for anticipating a film based on powerfully presented bent behavior.

But once the feds show up and weird things happen in the sky, it's clear that ``The Forgotten'' is not up to anything that stimulating. What we get instead is a serviceable ``X-Files'' episode, elevated a bit by Moore's contained yet furious take on never-say-die mother love.

There is much running, many car chases and some mysterious guy who can't be hurt. Dominic West (``Mona Lisa Smile'') plays the father of a missing girl he can't remember, ``E.R.'s'' Anthony Edwards is Telly's husband who can't remember their son, and Gary Sinise is her analyst who knows more than he lets on. Men. What're you gonna do with 'em?

Director Joseph Ruben keeps things as tense and mysterious as Gerald DiPego's script permits. The plot is such an anything-can-happen affair that holding viewer attention at all must have been tougher than it looks. In that way, ``Forgotten'' can be considered a step back toward form for Ruben, who made crackling little suspensers such as ``The Stepfather'' and ``True Believer'' before hitting it big (``Sleeping With the Enemy''), then losing his touch with the likes of ``Money Train'' and ``Return to Paradise.'' Maybe now that he's rehoned his skills on ``The Forgotten,'' Ruben will remember how to pick better scripts.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

THE FORGOTTEN - Two and one half stars

(PG-13: violence, language, alcohol abuse, children in jeopardy)

Starring: Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, Anthony Edwards.

Director: Joseph Ruben.

Running time: 1 hr. 31 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Moore's grieving mother is either crazy or the victim of an extremely elaborate plot to make her believe her dead child never existed. Only an actress of her caliber could bring emotional credibility to such preposterous shenanigans.

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Julianne Moore and Dominic West struggle to make sense of recent events involving their respective children, in the supernatural thriller ``The Forgotten.''