The Missing (Superbit Collection)

Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile for Western Buffs
Review: "The Missing," like so many movies released towards the end of 2003 was totally swamped by the success of "Return of the King." Watching the movie on DVD, several months later, Ron Howard's "The Missing," much like "The Last Samurai" or "Hilgado," seems to take on a life of its own. Like both of those films, much of "The Missing" is only of average quality, but there are enough strong performances to recommend them. And, for affectionatos, "The Missing" is especially worth seeing. It's a treat for me to see a new Western that isn't made for cable.

Howard seems to have intended this film as a tribute to the John Wayne/John Ford collaborations. While Howard's no Ford, protagonist Tommy Lee Jones lends his role some of the craggy gravity Wayne possessed in later films. The plot, like many Ford Westerns, is straightforward and the true joy of the film comes from the uneasy alliance between Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones' characters as they attempt to prevent rogue Apaches from selling young women into prostitution. There's also some beautiful cinematography.

The chief problem with this movie is a bizarre subplot involving the Apache gangleader. He's a witch, and he has the power to magically affect his enemies. Such a character would work well in a more fantastic film, and could conceivably work in a western if the director made it clear that his powers worked only on his superstitious followers. Howard wants this to be a real witch in a semi-realistic film and it suffers as a result. It's like forcing elements of a Wes Craven film into a Clint Eastwood story - it just does not work. The film is also hampered by an overlong running time, and by failing to distinguish itself from its influences. "The Missing" could have been a half-hour shorter and would have been better for it.

If you've already seen the true classics of Western cinema, from John Ford down through Sergio Leone, and have been converted into a Western film buff - then, this is a movie you will enjoy. I'm such a person, and I enjoyed watching Howard tackle a Western. If you are not a Western fan, this movie is probably not for you.

Rating:
Summary: GOOD HISTORY IF NOT A GREAT MOVIE
Review: A rather simple plot in this one; Cate Blanchett (who, as usual, turns in a flawless performance) is a frontier woman whose daughter is abducted by Apaches and she is forced to enlist the help of her enstranged and despised father who had "gone Indian" years before to help get her daughther back. The movie itself often feels like it's made for t.v., but all the same, I really enjoyed what was almost always a good re-creation of a by-gone time. The portrayal of the Apaches, the cross-border slave trade, the isolation of the frontier families and their rugged existance among other things, was played with a very non-stereotypcial authenticity; even better, there was a gratifying lack of political correctness to the characters. Blanchett's character was openly biased against Indians, but her attitdudes didn't make her seem idiotic or hateful; she was still portrayed as an essentially decent, intelligent, and resourceful human being, but one that carried what was considered at the time acceptable attidudes. And un-like a lot of Hollywood offereings, her attitudes did not become the center piece of the movie, turning the whole film into a morality play or still yet another cloying political correctness vehicle. I realize many people claim that the Idians were stereotyped, but I disagree; Lee's character chose to spend the bulk of his adult life with them, suggesting a positive attraction to native American culture, and one of his old Chiracahua aquaintances appeared later in the film and was depicted as a kind and caring father. The American calvary soldiers, on the other hand, were not portrayed heroically, but quite the opposite (which is typical of Hollywood stereotyping). So while maybe not a great film, for once, a fairly accurate historical illustration.

Rating:
Summary: Strong Acting of Cate Blanchett, and ... Too Much Searching
Review: After the success of the 'Beautiful Mind,' Ron Haward picked up a Western film. I know he is a good filmmaker, and I like his films too, but 'The Missing' is not one of them. The reason is twofold: it suffers from the long, long running time (135 mins), and from its overdramatized script.

The simple plot should remain simple here, but the film seems to think it has to begin from the solemn introductory part, where we see the heroine named Maggie (played by ever-reliable Cate Blanchett) pull out a tooth (and the last one) from an old lady. Painful, isn't it? But this is how she earns extra money for living, and the film insists on telling that, while it has already secured Cate Blanchett's superb, convincing acting at hand. Do we need anything more?

The time is 1885. In the middle of the deserted land of New Mexico, Maggie lives her lonely, not-so-comfortable life, with her two daughters, and a kind-hearted cowboy (Aaron Eckhart). One day, however, Maggie's father Samuel (Tommy Lee Jones, very grim as usual), who left her and her mother long time ago, comes back to her. Well, Maggie doesn't like it, and treats him to show it.

AND THEN, finally, the real story starts. One of the daughters is kidnapped by an Indian Chidin (Eric Schweig), to be sold across the border. Now, Maggie, Samuel, and even the younger daughter team up, in order to find the lost track of the kidnappers heading for the south.

Comparison with John Ford's classic 'The Searchers' would be unfair. I know. It was made before the current PC mood spread all over Hollywood. Though 'The Missing' shows a really 'bad' Indian, that is not the real problem at all. No. no, see, because...

RON HOWARD'S MISTAKE is that he tried to contain as many elements in the plot as possible, while the plot should be more straight and simple. You will see several set-pieces, in which the seachers or the missing daughter are involved, but none of them add anything to the already slim story, perhaps except the relation between Maggie and Samuel. My impression was as if the film wants to delay the inevitable (or predictable) conclusion as much as it can. Why did the kidnapped daughter (Evan Rache Wood), given lots of chances to escape, has to blow it? Why does the Indian use the 'magic,' which actually works, and putting a spell on our heroine, to torment her?? Is this supposed to be about the 'Missing'?

'The Missing' has great photography and performance from Cate Blanchett, who with her authentic acting really makes us forget that she once played Queen Elizabeth I. Before watching the film, she happened to be the single reason for me to go all the way to the theater. Now, to me, she is still the single reason for me to watch it again ... if ever I should.

Rating:
Summary: A movie worth watching!
Review: Definitely a wonderful western, The Missing, brings to the screen the story of a mother of two girls and her estranged father as they hunt down the kidnappers of her eldest daughter before they make it to Mexico. There, the kidnappers led by an evil renegade Apache shaman plan to sell her along with other girls that they've collected to Mexican slavers/pimps. The whole experience will affect them in the most profound way.
The setting is 1885 New Mexico, and it is a film about human relations, hope and second chances, but most importantly about how trust, love, and inner strength, can lead out of situations, which might seem bleak or desperate at first glance.
On the negative side, the only setback is how at exactly the right time "allies" appeared to help them as well as the fact that the kidnappers were way out of their league number-wise.
Needless to say, Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones and the rest of the cast have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are outstanding to say the least!
It is a movie worth watching!


Rating:
Summary: Duty, and Forgiveness.
Review: I think I must have watched a different movie than the reviewers I read below. This movie is a movie about overcoming bitterness, and doing your duty. The western element is a conveyor of the story that reminds you at once it is pointless to let the foibles of your family make you bitter, and that ultimately your family is your greatest responsibility and your greatest resource. Yes they make you crazy, yes they let you down, but still they are the ones that love you anyway. Well, that's what I think.

Rating:
Summary: The Missing
Review: Not only is this boring heap of junk an insult to Apache indians, but it insults the most credulous of film reviewers. It seems Ron Howard has a one dimensional view of the Apache indian because he portrayed them as theiving, murdering drunks instead of a group of people that was displaced and murdered by the white man. I lived on a New Mexico reservation with the Apache for one year and I learnt that they are very human and have goals and aspirations besides what is erroneously portrayed in the film. This is a standard fare from Hollywood which has a terrible ending and does nothing to even help the viewer understand the purpose of why this film was made. A complete career spiral for Howard, who didn't do anything good to begin with.



Rating:
Summary: 'The Searchers' - lite
Review: Reading the premise you could be forgiven for thinking you were onto a winner here: Intriguing characters - sinister rogue Apache 'witch', tough independent frontier mother, estranged father who left to 'go native' - and a potentially engrossing story. But all ingredients sadly come to very little under Ron Howard's undercooked direction. Visually and dramatically the film compares very poorly in toughness, menace and visual power with 'The Searchers' on which it is clearly a riff, a decaffeinated, low-cal one at that.. Kate Blanchett gives a sturdy performance that deserved a better vehicle. Tommy Lee Jones by contrast looks ill-at-ease throughout. Of recent westerns, Kevin Costner's 'Open Range' takes up the reins of the tradition with far more satisfactory results.




Rating:
Summary: Superb movie
Review: THE MISSING is a great movie, I don't know why it didn't get more attention. Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones are both exceptional. It has the ability to draw you in and keep you interested until the end. I've watched it several times and like it more each time. It should have been noticed by the Academy.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking .. literally!
Review: This movie has what so many lack: a story that gradually sucks you in until you are visually enthralled and in this case frightened at times. I caught myself holding my breath, as if the kidnappers would hear me! Tommy Lee Jones was terrific and believeable and Kate Blanchett and the others do a wonderful job. I was so involved witht this movie that I could not leave the room for fear I would miss something critical. Not a reaction I always have because some movies actually make you wish you were watching them on commercial television so you could get little chores done during commercial ads put in during slow tempo~!