The Missing

Plot synopsis:
Set in 1885 in New Mexico, an estranged father shows up at his daughter's ranch and it's made clear he isn't welcome back into her life. He abandoned his family years ago to "go injun." His older granddaughter is kidnapped by a band of assorted thugs of different ethnicities who are taking her to Mexico to sell her into prositution. So dad, daughter and younger granddaughter take off to track down the thugs and get the daughter back.------------------------------`The Missing' is set in New Mexico in 1885. Tommy Lee Jones stars as the estranged father of prairie doctor Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett), a young woman with two daughters trying to make a living in this isolated wilderness. Tommy Lee Jones had abandoned his family some 20-years earlier to live with the Indians. After a rattlesnake bite, the medicine man tells him that he must reunite with his family to save his life. Maggie hates her father and throws him out of the house. After he leaves, her oldest daughter Lilly (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by a band of renegade Indians, who have already kidnapped several other girls to sell in Mexico. Maggie goes to town and tells the sheriff, but he cannot help, so she is forced to enlist the help of her father to track down the kidnappers. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

Tags: good versus evil, cult, suspenseful

Review:
The girls playing the daughters were excellenttoo, specially the youngest one, who had a number of intense emotional scenes.I liked the bleak feeling presented in the film...the raw climate, the hopelessness combined with determination that the characters portrayed.
Very reminiscent of 'The Searchers', probably the best of the John Wayne-John Ford teamups, 'Missing' plays better as a thriller set in the West, than as a 'mystical Western' (which is what I think it was really going for).
As a 'local'  Arizona  long-time US southwestern resident and historian, I have to bite my lip occasionally at many of the ridiculous reviews for this excellent Ron Howard film.It's so easy to spot the ignorantFor all their emotion about this film, most reviewers' clichés, inaccurate statements, mistaken references, mis-understood, mis-referenced or mis-opted views of 'Western movies' (let alone, southwestern history, and general mis-direction of history en toto), grossly reveal the puerile, Hollywood brain-damagePity  they could have learned a lot if they only KNEW.
Point-in-fact: his acting crew, notably Tommy Lee Jones, had to learn whole sentences/paragraphs in the Apache-ne-Athe(p/b)ascan derivative language (as well as their meanings), in not just short, 'indian' phrases as in most 'Western-style' films, but to those which accurately depict the spoken word of the time.
And, BTW, Schwieg was absolutely SUPERIOR in the role  the man surely deserved not only credibility, but Oscar consideration  he is that good; if you knew only a sliver of southwestern history, you'd know his portrayal is not only authentic, but well-portrayed (eastern-USers, Canadians, take note  you've no conscience of southwestern US history unless you've studied/lived it  mark my word, Pilgrim).Re/ The Entertainment value: - TLJones: always a distinct pleasure, thank you Thomas  extraordinarily well-done, and one of your very best efforts  applauses; how-went the linguistics for the film?
We had more than an hour and a half building this up as a legitimate and realistic dramatic film taking place in the western time period, and all of a sudden, it's a fantasy movie.
Simply because Ron Howard had a very ambitious idea about how to make a Western movie different and unique, but didn't spend quite enough time developing it.
However, when her eldest daughter Lilly (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by a rebel group of ex-soldiers led by a witch doctor, Maggie has no choice but to ask her father to help track down the kidnappers and find her daughter.Full of continuous epic action 'The Missing' is a film that does not show many faults and has everything you want to see in a first rate film, from tension to suspense with loads of great drama, tremendous acting and even witchcraft.Director Ron Howard does it yet again, creating a superb film which I think he can easily put into his best of list.
The only real bad thing about this film is that it goes on a bit too long (which in all fairness couldn't really be helped) but despite that, it grips you and holds on tight both unpredictable and unforgettable with great performances from Tommy Lee Jones, who never ceases to amaze, Cate Blanchett who is as good as ever, Evan Rachel Wood Gives another super performance and I was particularly impressed with young Jenna Boyd.* * * * * (5 stars).
Cate Blanchett has been surviving just fine on her own, but when some indians kill her boyfriend and kidnap her eldest daughter (she has one other, who's quite good), she is forced to ask her strange and estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) for help.Ron Howard finally made that western he's been dreaming of since he was a kiddie putting together home movies of men on horses riding into town (which you can find on The Missing DVD) - and i hope it surpasses his wildest dreams.
"The Missing", starring Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones, is one of those movies that will come and go without getting noticed by audiences let alone any of the award programs.
That's a shame because it's a tightly plotted film with interesting, sympathetic characters in a Western setting, but minus most of the tired Western genre devices.In "The Missing", Cate Blanchett plays Maggie Gilkeson, a tough, frontier doctor / rancher with two young daughters (played by Evan Rachel Wood and Jenna Boyd), and a farmhand / love interest (Aaron Eckhart) named Brake, who also acts as her family's dedicated protector.Unexpectedly, her father (Tommy Lee Jones) comes back into her life after abandoning his family years before to live with the Indians.
Meanwhile, Tommy Lee Jones continues to be typecast as "the guy who hunts people" which started years ago with "The Fugitive" and hasn't varied much since.In the end, one of the things I liked best about "The Missing" is the genuine danger for all of the major characters.
It came out the same week as Master and Commander- what rotten luck- but it's truly one of Ron Howard's finest movies ever directed (next to Apollo 13).If you'd like to expand your imagination into the possibilities beyond the final cut, then rent the 2 disc version for deleted scenes and alternative endings.
In the support cast of the film appears various actors who usually play Indians roles , such as Eric Schweig and Steve Reevis , because being native origin , and both of them along with Tommy Lee Jones learned some words of the Chiricaghua language .
And a brief role for Val Kilmer, who previously worked together director Ron Howard in Willow , as Kilmer lives on a nearby New Mexico ranch, agreed to producers a secondary cameo in this film .
Of the things I'd like to have seen gone, the whole black magic side of the film didn't work for me and gave the story a mysticism that I didn't think it actually needed.The cast are very good though.
Don't get me wrong, Ron Howard makes good to great movies ( this is a solid film from the historical point of view as well ) but I am left with more questions for him than I feel I will ever get answers..
Blandly directed by Ron Howard, `The Missing' is a grim, depressing western that strands Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones in two thoroughly uninteresting roles.
Blanchett wants nothing whatsoever to do with him, but when her oldest daughter is kidnapped to be sold into slavery in Mexico, Blanchett reluctantly enlists his aid in getting her back.For all the high caliber talent both behind and in front of the camera, `The Missing' is a surprisingly mediocre, undistinguished film, plodding, overlong and faintly sadistic in character and tone.
She was forced to rely upon someone she had nothing but contempt for,her own father,to get back someone she held dear,her daughter.This is the dilemma faced by Maggie Gilkeson(Cate Blanchett).I found myself admiring the strength of Blanchett's character,as well as the character of Jones (Tommy Lee Jones) for his having the strength to return after a long absence.The story is indeed a compelling one,with strong performances by all and strong direction by Ron Howard.I surprised that there aren't more positive reviews of the film,because for me personally,it did it's job and did it well.Though it is set in a western time period,this is not your typical western,which is a good thing because when comes to this genre,we are always looking for something different than the usual stereotype.This film pulls it off.Well done..
But Eastwood depends on this juxtaposition - the killings of the cowboys are portrayed realistically, the final shoot-out is the stuff myth is made from, the whole point of the movie.Howard actually misses this bet; the grandfather Tommy Lee Jones plays gets too sentimental for the biography of him we are given - he needs to be as hard as the creepy witch-guy he needs to confront to save his granddaughters.
It stars Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchet, Eric Schweig, Evan Rachel Wood, Jenna Boyd, Ray McKinnon, Val Kilmer & Aaron Eckhart.
James Horner scores the music and Salvatore Totino is the cinematographer.New Mexico 1885 and frontier doctor Maggie Gilkeson (Blanchet) has to seek help from her estranged father Samuel Jones/Chaa-duu-ba-its- iidan (Lee Jones), when her eldest daughter is kidnapped by Pesh-Chidin/El Brujo (Schweig) an Apache Warlock who sells girls into prostitution.An obvious variation on John Ford's The Searchers, The Missing slipped under the radar some what of Western fans who were greatly served by Kevin Costner's Open Range released the same year.
While there is plenty enough here for none Western fans to enjoy; from the many colourful characters on show (including a great horror movie like villain in Schweig), to the panoramic scenery, and the number of action sequences that flit in and out of the narrative.
THE GOOD - Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones are always interesting actors who play intense characters and this movie is no exception.
Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones and the SUPERB acting jobs they did definitely carried the film.
So begins a 2+ hour long film which portends hard-bitten authenticity but plays out as a run of the mill Western with the usual sterling performance by Blanchett and the usual good-but-not-great work by Jones.
The cast are great, Cate Blanchett gives meat to her character and gives another strong account of herself, and Tommy Lee Jones looks the part and is suitably commanding.
Ron Howard mixed different genres in this movie: Drama, thriller, western and a little bit of horror.
Superbly played by Tommy Lee who really did look every inch the part.All in all a well acted and scripted film with superb camera work making the most of the wonderful scenery that only the American west can provide.Really enjoyed Val Kilmer's cameo role of a Cavalry officer.
Tommy Lee Jones was very good and I thought Cate Blanchett acted rather well.
Anyway The Missing is a good film and if you like to see a western with a big mystery then see The Missing!Movie Nuttball's NOTE:Fans of Tommy Lee Jones, check out these other great films!
Although "The Missing" is generally regarded as director Ron Howard's weakest film, there are few complaints about his casting or his acting for the camera directing.
Tommy Lee, Maggie, and tomboy daughter Dot take off after them.It is about this time that things go from gritty realistic to weird and stupid as we meet Eric Schweig, who has had the Indian role in most of the movies made since 1990.
It's the year 1885 in New Mexico and the story revolves around Maggie Gilkeson(Cate Blanchett) and her two daughters, Lily and Dot. But when unexpectedly one afternoon, Lily(Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by a Indian Madman, along with young and though Dot(Jenna Boyd) who is determined to find her older sister, Maggie is forced to encounter her estranged father Samuel Jones(Tommy Lee Jones) in order to get her daughter back.
This film is called " The Missing " and stars Tommy Lee Jones as a father who's family disowned years ago.
The movie is directed by Ron Howard and that alone tells you it's going to be a good film.
Tommy Lee Jones is Samuel Jones, the wayward father, Cate Blanchett plays Magdalena Gilkeson, his unforgiving daughter and Val Kilmer taking a bit part as Lt. Jim Ducharme.
Surprisingly tough and violent coming from director Ron Howard (although he DOES have "Ransom" to his credit also), this hybrid of occult thriller/western will remind many buffs somewhat of John Wayne's classic "The Searchers."  "The Missing" isn't really in that category, but it still is a remarkably gripping drama with more than it's share of surprises.
Over the years, we've had the rare excellent one, "Unforgiven," some lively ones, "Tombstone" and "Silverado," some earnest ones, "Dances with Wolves," and some outright duds, "Dead Man."  "The Missing" falls into the lukewarm category, which is surprising since, based on the sensibilities of his previous work, I hoped Ron Howard would make a great western.
In "The Missing," Cate Blanchett calls upon her estranged father, Tommy Lee Jones, a native American wannabe, to help her retrieve her eldest daughter, Evan Rachel Wood, who has been kidnapped by a savage band of Indians led by an evil witch doctor, Eric Schweig.
Brilliant cinematography (as always with a Ron Howard film), flawless performances by everyone (Howard seems to bring out the best in his casts), and a crackling, suspenseful, mysterious plot make this movie entirely watchable.
(I saw The Outlaw Josey Wales recently and was distinctly underwhelmed, although another recent 'western' The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Rober Ford was way better than many other films of its year.) The central relationship and reconciliation between renegade white man Tommy Lee Jones who had abandoned his family and lived as a native American, and Cate Blanchett as the daughter he more or less discarded is surprisingly delicately done and quite convincing.
Estranged from his family after abandoning them years earlier, he returns in mysterious circumstances only to find his daughter Magdalene is not particularly welcoming.However, when a tribe of Apache Indians kidnap her daughter with the intention of selling her as a prostitute, she realises she needs Jones' help to track them down and get her daughter back.As 'Maggie' Cate Blanchett is quite superb.
Sure, it's a kidnap thriller set in ye old days - but mixing these 2 together does not make a new type of film.But if you overlook this and accept the movie as an unremarkable yet solid piece of cinema with good performances, you'll get something out of it..
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsIn 1885 New Mexico,Maggie Gilchard (Cate Blanchett) raises her daughters on a ranch whilst doing God's work.Having been kicked out of his previous ranch,her long estranged father Samuel (Tommy Lee Jones) arrives back home,hoping to reconcile,only to be treated with contempt by Maggie.Then her daughter is kidnapped and Samuel is offered the perfect chance to make amends for his past mistakes.After a long spate of really bad films (beginning,I think,with the abysmal Double Jeopardy) it is great to see the compelling Jones being first billed in a film that is of an at least watchable quality.The Missing is an impressively deep and skillfully absorbing film,with a well crafted story at it's dispersal that's full of all the right elements of drama and suspense to keep it's audience riveted through to the end.Strong,forceful performances from the lead stars and from the vast majority of the supporting cast do little to hinder matters,as well as fairly good direction from seasoned director Ron Howard.However,for all this,one can't help but notice what a rambling,uninvolving experience it also seems to be,a promising,well made script that just fails to materialize in to something that really engages.***.
Likewise if you're a Cate Blanchett or Tommy Lee Jones fan - both deliver amazingly rich emotional performances.The film starts well and maintains good pacing and momentum.
Reluctantly, Maggie Gilkerson (Blanchett) must ask her long-estranged father Samuel (Tommy Lee Jones) to help her track down her daughter.
Anyway, this movie is good, and this is coming from a guy who will almost never sit down to watch a drama set further into the past than 10 years.It's not The Searchers, but I'm somewhat glad it's not, or there would have been white people playing the Native American roles.
Tommy Lee Jones was his usual cool self, but I think that the real acting marks go to Cate Blanchett in the role of Maggie.
It's as if The Missing is missing that something extra which could have propelled it into the higher latitudes of film greatness.I think the problem is despite all of the above mentioned qualities, when all is said and done, you still end up with nothing more than a story that is a bit too predictable with an underlying conflict between Samuel Jones (Tommy Lee Jones) and his daughter Maggie (Cate Blanchett) that is doled out in bits and pieces to the audience and then left simmering beneath the surface, even to the end.
(Siegel was ruthless to himself in the editing room, once remarking "I don't care if I worked all day to get a shot; if I don't like it, out it goes.")  Before undertaking "The Missing," Howard probably should have gone back and watched "The Shootist" and other Siegel flicks many times, because there's the essence of a darn good cinematic story here, but by the end it's like the Grateful Dead tune: "What a long strange trip it's been..."It's 1885 New Mexico (the movie's "look" is perfect) and Cate Blanchett once again pretends she's someone other than Galadriel from "Lord of the Rings" (in one scene I could swear her ears looked pointed).
(From my reading of nineteenth-century history, I can't help thinking they would have been just a little more motivated, if only due to racist aversion to white maidens getting "defiled by Redskins.")   The bulk of the movie should then have been the unfolding rocky reconciliation between estranged father and daughter as they retrieve "the missing" of the title.Unfortunately director Howard makes the same mistake here that he did in his earlier "Ransom," a remake of a 1950's kidnapping caper in which the "bad guy" was never seen (except for a gloved hand).
I like Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones, but this movie was too boringly predictable for me.
I'm not into western movies because I find them corny but, this one aside from having the great cate blanchett, made me watch from the first minute up to the last and I want more!
Despite the immense Cate Blanchett, the good Tommy Lee Jones and other actors, the story has nothing original and many characters are ridiculously stereotyped.
I thought that Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones were both very good.
Missing, The (2003) Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood, Jenna Boyd, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer, Eric Schweig, D: Ron Howard.