The Missing (2003)

Cate Blanchett blazes through The Missing, a new Western directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13). The camera truly loves the planes of her face; even dusty and bedraggled, she radiates star power--which is good, because The Missing needs it. When her daughter is kidnapped by renegade Indians, Maggie Gilkeson (Blanchett) is forced to turn to her estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones, Men in Black, The Fugitive), a man who abandoned her as a child to join an Indian tribe. Together, they pursue a malignant brujo (or witch), who sells young girls in Mexico. The Missing features solid supporting performances from Evan Rachel Wood, Eric Schweig, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer, and feisty young Jenna Boyd as Maggie's youngest daughter Dot, who refuses to be left behind. Despite the cast and some gorgeous cinematography, though, The Missing never finds its stride. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

Cast shines, interesting story, strong female lead

Initially I was surprised at the time, that a film of this caliber, with a large cast and "epic" feel would even make it into the theater. Since modern Westerns don't tend to garner huge box office success, I was happy to see a significant amount of enthusiasm for the film. Though it stretches on in parts, the visual appeal, and the performances of the entire cast lend an authenticity that can't be ignored.

The strong lead in Cate Blanchett's character leads with a confidence that underscores her talent and capility of carrying a film. The film's scenary and "stillness" is beautiful and the time period is convincingly recreated.

The film blends mystical, supernatural elements, and creates a touching family drama, with the depth of character development and underlying themes present between Cate and Tommy Lee Jones. As was already remarked Evan Rachel Wood is a rising talent as the oldest daughter and compliments the film well.

The Superbit was tested on a 50" Panasonic Plasma and a Toshiba XDE 500, with color enhancement. Despite the "dull" look of the film given the setting (many dry fauna and quiet scenes), the clarity in the Superbit is a significant improvement over the standard SD, which I've also seen. The DTS sound is incredible, and distills the subtle sounds of the outdoor scenes effectively.

May not be for "everyone", but worth a look if you're into the genre, and are looking for something different. November 28, 2008

An Edge of Your Seat film

The Missing is a high drama about interpersonal conflicts which just happens to occur in the Old West. It is also a standard action Western, but the characters are fully developed and carry the story.

The heat is always up and the movie is intense. This film has a great cast and an excellent script. Although brutal for a Ron Howard film, he does an great job of directing. Like any really good Western, the bad guy is bad to the bone. If you like Westerns or dramas, you should add The Missing to your library.

Disappointingly, there are no special features.

The Shut Mouth Society
The Shopkeeper October 22, 2008

Worth owning

The original DVD was very clear with excellent sound. The SUPERBIT version on an HD TV connected from an up upgrading HD DVD or Blu-Ray player via HDMI cord is brilliant! The sound in DTS is crisp and clear; when you hear the sound of a bullet ricochet off a rock, you clearly hear the direction it comes from and then the direction it changes to after striking the rock. People breathing and the sound of horses are all very full and have a dramatic impact on the film; as do the sounds of the shauman's rattle snakes.

Excellent cast and the children are very believable (not always the case in film}. One can feel the struggles of the times, the heat and the dryness. Cate Blanchet projects the fear a woman in her position at the time would feel very well. She is a versatile actress. The sadness in Tommy Lee Jones's character comes through so clearly and when he is given the opportunity to help, he grabs the life line. His experience shows; as a film actor, he knows what he's doing. The shauman is so evil his hatred is positively palpable.

As does Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, Unforgiven [HD DVD], this film does not show the west in its more romantic aspects. This is gritty stuff and makes me for one, glad not to be living in that era.

I am sure a Blu-ray version is on the way, but meanwhile, this is worth owning. June 22, 2008

more the expected

if you enjoy native american old west movies this is more then you could ecpect from the genre.the acting was good.especially Dot. i felt her passion.... the storyline has been told ..i felt it was better then the cover..... May 23, 2008

Great movie

Very good western and Jones & Blanchett were prefect for it. Sure was a bad landscape - I'll bet they were tired of that area. I'll be sure and never travel there. March 31, 2008

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