In the cold, barren open range of 1885 New Mexico, prairie doctor Maggie
Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett, in a rock solid performance) tends to her land with
daughters Lily (Evan Rachel Wood, "Thirteen") and Dot (Jenna Boyd, "Dickie
Roberts"). When her father, Jones (Tommy Lee Jones, reliable, but trying to
soften his natural orneriness), arrives at the homestead after decades of
absence spent with an Apache tribe, Maggie isn't emotionally ready for a
reunion. But when a psychopathic Native American witch named Chidin (Eric
Schwig, "Skins") kidnaps Lily, looking to sell her in Mexico, Maggie must turn
to her estranged tracker father to bring the child home again.
While director Ron Howard is no stranger to dark material ("Ransom"), he's best
known for his uplifting films that fill the heart with joy, and also happen to
make gobs and gobs of money ("The Grinch," "Apollo 13"). But
every decade, Howard decides to take a walk on the wild side and delve into
material that clearly deviates from his normal routine. "The Missing" (IMDb listing) is
probably Howard's moodiest, most bleak film to date, filled with suicides,
infant deaths, murders, and brutal moments of captivity. It's a quasi
western/black magic/kidnapping/relationship film that defies most explanations,
but in all the good ways. The film also features a slightly un-PC, but
historically accurate depiction of the volatile relationship between the Native
Americans and the imposing European Americans, which makes the tension even more
uncomfortable.
I wouldn't say that "The Missing" is Howard's best work in recent years, but it
is his most ambitious, and that's a celebratory event all on its own. After
hitting box office and Oscar gold with 2001's "A Beautiful Mind,"
Howard has bravely retreated from the warm fuzzies and stories of emotional
triumph to give us a tale where evil
could very well win out in the end. How very un-Ron Howard of him.
Though "The Missing" takes on familiar elements found in classic stories of
western reconciliation and retrieval (shades of "The Searchers"), the film is
more a tale of mysticism and witchcraft. There is a dark vibe running through
the film. Howard shows in detail the alchemy of Chidin; hanging rattlesnakes
from trees to drain their venom for his weapons, using hair from a brush to
weave spells, and blowing unidentified powders in victim's faces to bring them
to their knees. It's a combination of the traditional Hollywood exploration of
Native American superstition and some truly twisted, macabre material (think
human hearts buried in the sand), making the threat of Chidin (nicely played by
Eric Schweig) very menacing and real. Howard spends a lot of the running time
making sure the audience is cognizant of Chidin's powers, which doesn't benefit
the film's pacing. At 130 minutes, "The Missing" is far too long and a tinge
bloated to be effective in the way Howard intends, and the intense concentration
on the magical fringes of the narrative is the main culprit.
Shot on location in New Mexico, "The Missing" is customarily gorgeous for a
western. Photographed by Salvatore Totino ("Changing Lanes"), there is a gorgeous clarity to the southwest winter
visuals - along with some post-production tinkering with the colors - that does
its job to crank up the urgency of the drama. The film might be tough storywise
to watch, but in a pure western sense, "The Missing" is fantastic to observe.
When "The Missing" is in full adventure mode, it's some of the best work Ron
Howard has put up on the screen to date. This is a bold film for Howard
(especially for a Thanksgiving release), and even though it gets sidetracked
from time to time, the authority of the filmmaker's commitment to this
nightmarish tale is laudable, and often results in a rewarding motion picture.
Filmfodder Grade: B