Missing, the: Amazon.ca: Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood, Jenna Boyd, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer, Sergio Calder�n, Eric Schweig, Steve Reevis, Jay Tavare, Simon Baker, Ray McKinnon, Ron Howard, Aldric La'auli Porter, Brian Grazer, Daniel Ostroff, Kathleen McGill, Louisa Velis, Ken Kaufman, Thomas Eidson: DVD

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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

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Customer Reviews

79 Reviews

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

Average Customer Review

3.5 out of 5 stars (79 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Not Much Missing from "The Missing", July 2 2004

By

L. Mintah "Author of the Heart" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Missing, the (DVD)

New Mexico has one of the most beautiful and haunting landscapes in the United States. Desert, arroyo, plains, twisted wood and rock formations, and a sky that is like something out of a dream. In The Missing, this landscape shifts constantly, evoking fantastic and surreal images that lend well to the mood of the story.

Cate Blanchett stars as Maggie, a tough and independent frontier "healer," who is also a single mother of two girls. Her independence is not enough to save her from the nightmare that erupts when a renegade Apache brujo (sorceror/male witch) kidnaps her teenage daughter Lily. The Brujo is selling young women as sex slaves in Mexico. This man is one bad Indian. Like Lonesome Dove's Blue Duck, the Brujo lends this gritty Western authenticity in these days of forced diversity and political correctness. Not to give anything of the story away, let's just say the villian's methods of killing are creative. This makes The Missing a very violent and disturbing movie.

Tommy Lee Jones stars as Maggie's estranged father. He is steeped in Indian ways himself, having lived with the Chirakawa tribe when he abandoned his family when Maggie was a little girl. Consequently, Maggie has intense hatred for her father. One of the very touching elements in the story is young Dot's eagerness to get to know her grandfather over her mother's rage. Revenge is not served up here, rather repentance is. Going after what you love, what has been taken from you, has consequences. Maggie's outright revulsion for Indians also has a terrible and unforseen consequence in the movie. Indian magic and witchcraft is real in this film, blending with the shape-shifting landscape. For further understanding of Native American witchcraft, Tony Hillerman's novel Skinwalkers is good.

The movie's general sequence of events is predictable, but that was not enough to stop me from weeping at the end. Also, the suspense was incredible. I should have known with a Ron Howard movie. I plan on purchasing this DVD, and I think my husband will really enjoy it, too.

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4.0 out of 5 stars LONG DAY'S JOURNEY, July 14 2004

By

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Missing, the (DVD)

Ron Howard's THE MISSING is a blend of western, action and supernatural ingredients. Having the marvelous Cate Blanchett as Maggie catapults the picture into its worthiness. Blanchett is exceptional as Maggie, a single frontier mother raising two feisty daughters (played wonderfully by Evan Rachel Wood and Jenna Boyd), while maintaining an affair with the affable Brake (Aaron Eckhart, always good). Her estranged father shows up one day and it's obvious Maggie has little affection for him. Tommy Lee Jones plays the father, with his usual swagger and rugged machismo. His performance is good, but he is overshadowed by Ms. Blanchett.
The movie has a cruelty to it, in that Eric Schweig as El Brujo is a heartless and cruel man, perhaps even a witch?? His treatment of the girls he kidnaps is brutal and inhumane, so this adds a very dark edge to the film.
The photography is sumptious, and the music appropriately moving. The film tends to bog down at times, and it's length at over two hours doesn't help. Overall, though, THE MISSING shows the talent of a very determined director and a wonderful gifted actress. That makes it worth viewing.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Jun 30 2007

By

Roberta Toth "Diva" (Oak Ridge, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Missing, the (VHS Tape)

This film tells us about the undercover, underhanded dealing of our government - facts that are increasingly known but were not when this film was made. Excellent acting, photography, story-telling. One of my favorite films.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars The Missing is missing something...
"The Missing" is an incredible piece work, an epic western, and an effectively eerie thriller. Directed by Ron Howard and starring Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones, this film is... Read more

Published on July 11 2004 by Ryan L.

3.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting take on the Western movie format
The Missing isn't my favorite movie but it does have a lot going for it. Northern New Mexico 1885 is the setting in which a youngish single mother and her two daughters try to... Read more

Published on Jun 30 2004 by A. Burchfield