The Western once such a popular genre for movies has declined in popularity since it's heyday in the 50's, it briefly was reinvented in the sixties as the Spaghetti Western and although it maintained a presence in the mainstream in the 70's it was effectively killed off by the sci-fi movies from Star Wars and beyond. This means that when we get a western made these days it is a rarity. There have been a few fine examples in recent years (The Unforgiven, The Quick and the Dead) and there just might be a slight resurgence.
'The Missing' on the surface looks very much in the traditional mould of a classic western even its storyline has echoes of the John Ford's classic 'The Searchers', although some elements do also seem to embrace more recent themes of realism and the supernatural.
THE PLOT
Maggie is a healer trying to make a living for herself and her young family on an isolated farm in 19th century New Mexico. Her father who she hasn't seen in years since he abandoned the family in order to live with the apache has come back to try and reconcile his relationship with Maggie. After an Indian attack Maggie eldest daughter is kidnapped in order to be sold in to slavery an event which forces Maggie to put aside her distrust of her father so they can together hope to rescue the girl.
CAST, PERFORMANCES AND OPINION
Tommy Lee Jones .... Samuel Jones Cate Blanchett .... Maggie Gilkeson Evan
Rachel Wood .... Lilly Gilkeson Jenna Boyd .... Dot Gilkeson Aaron Eckhart .... Brake Baldwin Val Kilmer .... Lt. Jim Ducharme Sergio Calderón .... Emiliano Eric Schweig .... Pesh-Chidin (El Brujo) Steve Reevis .... Two Stone Jay Tavare .... Kayitah
Directed by Ron Howard, written by Thomas Eidson-original novel The Last Ride adapted for the screen by Ken Kaufman.
The film boasts a good cast that can usually be relied upon to at the very least keep one's interest in most films however bad the story might be. In this case the film is not so bad that it requires to be saved by acting performances alone. Having said this it isn't all that original either. The young girl kidnapped by evil Indians scenario is one that has been used many times in westerns most successfully in the classic 'The Searchers' starring John Wayne. However although the storyline might imply otherwise the missing owes more to the grimmer realist westerns of recent years than to the classics of the 40's and 50's.
The characters in this film are universally downtrodden and it gives a grim picture of the frontier west full of people just about surviving against great odds of unfriendly climate, hostile natives and dysfunctional relationships, which is probably close to the truth.
Maggie is the strongest and pivotal character in the film. She is struggling to bring up the family and has experienced a lot of tragedies in her life. She has become cynical about life to the extent that she find it difficult to accept any kind of warmth in a relationship even from her lover Blake. Blanchett is good in the role she manages to look downtrodden enough whilst radiating defiance and strength. It is nice to see a genuinely strong female character in such a male dominated genre that isn't a gimmicky female gunslinger but an ordinary woman struggling to survive in a very harsh environment.
Tommy Lee Jones plays her father who returns to her after having abandoned Maggie and her mother in order to go native and join a tribe of Indians something, which Maggie will not forgive. He now acts and looks like an Apache and is not trusted. Tommy Lee Jones gives a good performance making this rather odd character believable in that world-weary way that he seems to have adopted in his more recent films.
The focus of the film is on the relationship between Maggie and her father and few others get a look in. There is strange cameo role for Val Kilmer as a army captain that little to convince me even after all these years of moderate box office success that Kilmer can actually act, but no matter he isn't on the screen all that much.
Eric Schweig as the psychotic Indian Shaman El Brujo provides the only other performance of note. He is pure evil with bad teeth to match! He doesn't speak a word of English throughout the film but his incomprehensible utterances are delivered so venomously and his actions are so sadistic that you are left in no doubt as to the blackness of his soul.
The film is just as much a psychological thriller as it is an action move and provided quite a few very tense moments as well as some well choreographed action sequences. The raw New Mexican landscape is well presented, and manages to add to the bleakness of the story, this film doesn't have many laughs!
A supernatural element to the story is a further aspect of the film distinguishes it from a traditional western. Although the portrayal of the events is mostly realistic at certain points the characters have magical/spiritual experiences, which I think work well in the overall context of the story and certainly makes the El Brujo character even more menacing.
Overall this is not a bad film and one that should be to the liking of those that are fans of the genre. Ron Howard, not one of my favourite directors, resists his usual inclinations to turn the story into sugary, sickly, sentimental pap and instead manages to keep the relationship between Maggie and her father tense and awkward throughout the film, even the ending doesn't provide the emotional release that we have come to expect from this director.
Although 'The Missing' will not go down in movie history as a great movie or even a great western it's enjoyable and dramatic enough to watch whilst not remaining in your memory for too long after.
'The Missing' is available on DVD from Play.com for £8.99 delivered.
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
From Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, the Oscar-winning Director and Producer team of 'A ... more
Beautiful Mind' comes THE MISSING. A chilling suspense thriller and a powerful drama of love, forgiveness and redemption starring Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones ...
Advantages: Charming and romantic family film. Beautiful cinematography. Disadvantages: Lingers on Potter's love life and not enough on her writing and illustrating.
MAFARRIMOND 13.05.2007 (13.05.2007)
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