 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
The Missing (M)
Directed by Ron Howard
 Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett star in Ron Howard's The Missing.
A few weeks ago, I was whining because a supposedly scary vampire movie didn't creep me out one little bit. So it serves me right that this week's film, The Missing, had me on the edge of my seat chewing my finger nails for all of its 150 minutes.
I was expecting good things. Cate Blanchett is one of my favourite actors, Tommy Lee Jones is always reliable and I don't mind Ron Howard as a director. I wasn't disappointed.
The Missing is the most exciting, gripping movie I've seen for a long time. Blanchett is wonderful as Maggie Gilkeson, a widow raising daughters Lily (Evan Rachel Wood) and Dot (Jenna Boyd) on a lonely ranch in America's south-west at the latter end of the 19th Century. To earn extra money, she works as a healer and is helped out on the farm by the new man in her life, Brake (Aaron Eckhart).
The unexpected arrival of her father, Samuel (Tommy Lee Jones) brings back bad memories for Maggie. He walked out on his wife and children to live with the Indians (or to use the PC term, Native Americans) and Maggie blames him for the death of her mother. She refuses to take the money he offers her and orders him off her property. But when Lily is kidnapped by a gang of Indians led by the truly evil witch, Pesh-Chidin (Eric Schweig) Maggie turns to Samuel for help. And so the search for the missing begins.
Based on Thomas Eidson's novel The Last Ride, this thriller is full of great performances - although I must single out young Jenna Boyd for a major rave. Her portrayal of feisty younger sister Dot is captivating and totally believable.
Director Ron Howard, who often lays on the treacle, proves he can tough it out with the best of them. This is gritty stuff and there were a few upsetting moments, so just be warned.
This may not be a place or a time you would actually like to visit in the flesh, (if you were lucky enough to be in possession of a Tardis!), but to experience life in the wild west courtesy of Hollywood for a brief two-and-a-half hours from the comfort of your cinema seat is a blast.
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