With a cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett, director Ron Howard's latest film should be comparable to his Oscar winning movie "A Beautiful Mind." Instead, "The Missing" is definitely missing a lot.
The movie takes place in New Mexico during the late 1800s. Blanchett plays Maggie Gilkeson, a mother who has been estranged from her father (Jones) for most of her life. In the beginning of the movie, her oldest daughter Lilly (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by Indians who plan to sell her once they reach Mexico.
Here's where the holes in the movie become terribly evident. The audience never finds out why Maggie and her father have been estranged for so long or how he randomly shows up on her property one day. If they haven't talked for so long, how does he know where to find her? Strange.
The story gets even worse when Maggie, her father and the youngest daughter set off to capture Lilly. Every minute of their journey is annoyingly predictable. The suspense is drained quickly when the audience realizes that Lilly isn't actually missing; they know exactly where she is. They just have to catch up with the Indians before they reach Mexico.
This all takes place in the beginning of the movie, and you have to wonder what the point is of staying to watch the rest.
Just when I thought the movie couldn't be worse, I was proved wrong. Frustration consumed me, and I wanted to fly through the screen and wring Lily's neck when they try to save her from the Indians. She shrieks like a little girl and ruins all chances of being saved because her shrieks alert the kidnappers of what's taking place.
Actually, by this point in the movie, I wanted to wring all of their necks.
Eventually, of course, they save Lilly and head back home. But, as I predicted, they don't make it home safely. The kidnappers catch up to Lilly and Maggie, and a significant amount of shooting occurs. Just when I thought they were all going to die, Maggie saves the day - and you won't believe how.
I didn't know that in a dangerous situation, one in which you are being attacked by violent, raging Indians, all you have to do is yell, "Go away! Go back home!", and guess what? They leave and go back home. This movie couldn't get any more ridiculous.
Somebody needs to tell Ron Howard to re-evaluate the entire movie, starting with the title.
"The Missing" is rated R for violence and is 130 minutes long.
Reach the reporter at pamela.j.coffman@asu.edu.
