Not to Forget

This well-meaning faith-based film about regret and forgiveness features a strong cast, but sometimes wades into maudlin territory.

It’s not often you see a tiny little-faith based film featuring some notable names in the cast. “Not to Forget” must set some kind of record, boasting no less than five Oscar winners — albeit older performers filling in the background of the main characters.

It’s a familiar theme for this genre: regret, resentment and forgiveness. A young man, Chris (Tate Dewey), is arrested for low-level con games, card tricks and the like. He’s sentenced by the imperious judge (Olympia Dukakis) to house arrest for a month at his grandmother’s place in Kentucky. Chris' has been cut off from his family since he was a small child, when his mother was killed in a car accident caused by his drunk-driving father.

The catch: she’s suffering from Alzheimer’s, so he will have to transform from cad to caregiver.

Grandmother Melody is played by Karen Grassle, best remembered for playing the mother on “Little House on the Prairie.” She’s a luminous presence, bright-eyed and cheery, a woman who long ago learned to love the life she was given, rather than striving for what others have. “I just remembered: I love living on a farm!” she exclaims at one point.

Back in the day, Melody’s farm was the biggest corn producer in the state, employing many people in their little (unnamed) town. With her now unable to run anything, her caretaker, Joe (Kevin Hardesty), grows just enough crops to feed the livestock and sustain them. He’s a supportive fellow who drives a great big 1970 Cadillac convertible (Melody’s) and tries to take Chris under his wing, only to be rejected.

The first section of the movie goes into a rather tiresome setup of Chris, along with the friends he imports from the big city, trying to find a way to scam Melody out of the farm. This involves a lot of ridiculous costumes and accents, searches for missing keys or pressing Melody, who cannot even remember that her daughter is dead, for the password to her accounts. It’s tedious stuff, and I was glad when it ended.

The town residents include Pastor John (Louis Gossett Jr.), who sees everyone as part of the flock he must care for, whether they step into his church or not; Donna (Cloris Leachman), who seems to get her hair done every day in the lone beauty shop; the elderly bank manager (George Chakiris), who is not nearly as doddering as he seems; and the town’s seemingly only doctor (Tatum O'Neal), who tracks Melody’s progress as well as caring for George (Eben French Mastin), another patient with dementia she seems to know.

Chris abruptly abandons his quest for earthly riches and starts to probe into Melody’s past, and thereby his own. He begins searching for a different form of treasure, starts fixing up the old house, and sees himself as belonging rather than taking. It feels a bit presto-chango rather than a character evolution.

Still, the movie, written and directed by Valerio Zanoli, begins to find itself in this second act. There are a few touching scenes that may even draw a tear or two.

It all gets a little bit maudlin for my taste, and veers once or twice into soap opera-esque plot developments that are intended to be big surprises, but play as quite obvious if you’ve been paying attention.

Still, it’s not a terrible movie, and if you like your dramas tinged with a little old time faith and syrupy sentiment, “Not to Forget” might be worth a rental. It’s available on several VOD services, including Amazon.