Missing (DVD)

Missing is one of the most tearfully moving movies I have ever seen, having seen it about a dozen times it still shocks me to my very core. Its subject matter so shocking, its storyline so well told; it’s impossible to find a bad thing said about this movie on the internet. This story of a real life disappearance, in my mind could possibly be the greatest movie ever made.

For whatever reason Charlie and Beth Horman (Played by John ...
...del Mar caused his disappearance. Missing follows the quest for Ed and Beth’s search for truth, as they try frantically to find Charlie against seemingly impossible odds.


Missing at first glance (DVD case) may seem far to political to generate enough interest in you as a consumer to watch it. But you don’t need to be politically minded to watch and understand what is occurring on screen. That being said, the movie is incredibly ... more

Missing is one of the most tearfully moving movies I have ever seen, having seen it about a dozen times it still shocks me to my very core. Its subject matter so shocking, its storyline so well told; it’s impossible to find a bad thing said about this movie on the internet. This story of a real life disappearance, in my mind could possibly be the greatest movie ever made.

For whatever reason Charlie and Beth Horman (Played by John Shea, and Sissy Spacek respectively) have decided to move to Santiago, Chile. There life has been and enjoyable one up until recent weeks. When a good friend (Melanie Mayron) called Terry Simon decides to return to America, Charlie decides it’s a good time to show her some of the best sights before leaving. The two leave for Viña del Mar, while there a military coup breaks out meaning they are stranded for the best part of a week. Upon return to Santiago they find that all things have changed, the city operates under a curfew and anyone caught out after curfew is immediately executed. This time in history was the run up to General Pinochet taking over the country in 1973.

Fed up with what has happened in a place they both loved so much Beth makes a tearful plea to return home. Charlie realising how strongly she feels, agrees and the two set plans in motion to leave. The following day while out saying her goodbyes and organising things Beth finds herself caught out after curfew; have walked through bodies laid on the street fear takes her to a secluded doorway where she stays the night. The following day Beth awakes and makes her journey home, arriving she finds that her home has been ransacked and her beloved Husband has gone. When checking around she is told that the military turned up and took Charlie and two boxes away from the house.

Edward Horman (Jack Lemmon) arrives in Santiago intent on finding his son. But has Charlie’s writing for a magazine thought to be considerably left wing by the powers that be, or something he discovered in Viña del Mar caused his disappearance. Missing follows the quest for Ed and Beth’s search for truth, as they try frantically to find Charlie against seemingly impossible odds.

Missing at first glance (DVD case) may seem far to political to generate enough interest in you as a consumer to watch it. But you don’t need to be politically minded to watch and understand what is occurring on screen. That being said, the movie is incredibly moving, I would go as far to say its so well delivered that you actually believe that what has happened has occurred to you or your family.

The first thing that struck me when I was watching this movie, and call me a sexist male if you wish; was just how fantastically attractive Sissy Spacek is. In the past I had seen her in movies such as Carrie, Coal Miner’s Daughter, and Crimes Of The Heart; where in honestly she would not register on your scale of someone you would regard as beautiful. Here however even at her most dishevelled moments she still looks amazing. Her performance is totally convincing as the much loved but down trodden wife of Charlie.

Spacek bounces nicely off Lemon’s performance, a relationship that begins as pure hatred. Ed blames Beth for Charlie’s arrival in Chile even though its never explained whose great idea it was. Whatever the case its clear that Ed did not believe that Charlie had such grand ideas until he met Beth. From an outsiders point of view however, how the movie appears to carry itself it seems that the idea was Charlie’s and that Beth went out of love for her husband. As the plot develops and Ed starts to see things through the same eyes as Beth, the relationship levels out. The pair start to generate a general respect for each other and it seems that they may have too much in common after all. Ed a practising Christian Scientist, is of course pushed back on the odd occasion when Beth chooses to bring up her and Charlie’s sex life; in Ed’s mind sex is something that goes on behind closed doors and is certainly never bought up in after dinner conversation.

Missing features some great two handed performances from Lemmon and Spacek, and Shea and Mayron. These never become tiresome like many other movies, because you deeply want to get to the truth. Each scene in the movie has a point, regardless of how pointless it seems at the time, you’ll note that the movie replays are points back to scenes illuminating their importance; this is the sign of strong writing and strong direction.

The most alarming part of the movie, and remember this is a story about true facts and events; is the lack of help Ed and Beth get in their search for Charlie. Initially all doors are closed to the Horman’s; but when suddenly the two begin to make some breakthroughs on their own it seems that the American Embassy and anyone else that can will help them in their quest. Unfortunately it seems that such help does not come at a price, and more alarmingly the help is not always true fact. The majority of this “help” comes from Consul Phil Putnam played admirably by David Clennon, who Mayron would later work on popular drama Thirtysomething with.

As the movie progresses the story flashes back to events that were not actually seen the first time round. Elaborating on events and putting you the viewer clearly in the mind of the family. You can begin to see why Charlie was taken away; but even with this knowledge in mind you still have numerous questions.

The performances are just fantastic from the other cast: John Shea who mostly we see in flashbacks is shown as being a very charming and honourable man, on occasions when he is asking questions as Charlie you think “Why did you say/ask that?” When ever I see John Shea in anything else I always think “That’s Charlie Horman” so convincing is he in his role.
Joe Regalbuto portrays an edgy role as Frank Teruggi a close friend of Charlie’s who appears to have gone missing too. Playing a more in your face character its quite easy to see why, and to accept why Frank may have gone missing. And finally Janice Rule stars as Kate Newman a New York Times reporter who tries her hardest to protect other while caring little for her own safety. Rule’s performance is totally believable, you know that these sort of people exist in real life, and you can almost imagine Rule having this same aura in her out of work life; sadly this excellent actress having had a fantastic career was drastically underused in the last years of her life; Rule died in 2003 having worked little after this performance.

I cannot put into words the strong feeling that go through your mind after watching this movie, and I defy anyone to watch it without shedding a tear. This utterly memorable, tragic and thought provoking movie is available pretty much anywhere for £4.99 and I personally feel that if you have any DVD’s in your collection Missing should really be there.

• As a footnote the movie does put the American government in quite a sinister light. Ironic that the movie went on to be nominated for several Oscars; which at the time was unheard of as these sorts of movies never got recognised by the Academy Awards. Having been nominated Missing went on to actually win one of them. 

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