|
MINI MOVIE REVIEW:
The elder teenaged daughter, Lily (Evan Rachel Wood), of Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett) has been kidnapped along with
seven other young New Mexican girls for sale to rich Mexicans south of the border for purposes of white slavery and enforced
prostitution.
Their kidnapper, Chidin (Eric Schwieg), is an evil Apache shaman who resorts to extreme violence and even magic to subdue
his victims. He brutally murders Maggie's boyfriend, Brake Baldwin (Aaron Eckhart), and leaves his body in a bag hanging from
a tree after the kidnaping.
Shortly before Lily's kidnaping, Maggie's own father, Samuel (Tommy Lee Jones), suddenly reappears after having deserted
his family some 20 years before to live among the Apache Indians. His desertion caused the death of her brother and left her
with strong feelings of anger and resentment against her long absent father. Yet Maggie must now turn to him as the only person
who has the expertise to pick up the trail of her kidnapped daughter.
----------------------
MOVIE CRITIQUE:
"Happy Days" Director Ron Howard must have lost his mind to sign on to this bloated mess of a film that is sickening
and repulsive in its violence, gore and bloodletting. Not to mention the overt bigotry of categorizing Apache Indians as brutal
savages and mercenary slave traders.
Sure, this movie is filled with outstanding performances by Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones, both of whom are charismatic
actors who command our attention and loyalty when they are on the screen. Their heartfelt performances give considerable solace
to the misery of having to sit through this long film. Unfortunately, this movie is a waste of their talents because the story
itself is so repugnant.
Also on the positive side it must be added that the scenic locales in New Mexico are all beautifully captured by the cinematographer.
It is quite a gorgeous travelogue until the many ugly people populating this film get in the way of the scenery.
So those are the few pluses of this film, which I have to admit was capably directed by Ron Howard. What he must not have
hired is an editor who is sorely needed to cut this mess of a film down, far down, from its current running time of 2 hours
and 10 minutes.
"The Missing" is one of those films that is painful to watch with its sickening emphasis on gore and violence,
really savage violence. In addition, some of the violence skirts the boundaries of perversion as it involves the bloodying
up and the torturing of young teenaged girls.
I sat there squirming uncomfortably in my theater seat hoping for a payoff at the end that will somehow make up for my
sense of taste and decency being assaulted for nearly the entire length of this film. Unfortunately, relief from the violence
and the gore never comes. In my opinion, this movie really pushes the envelope towards an "x-rating" with its graphic
depiction of violence.
And it just goes on and on. This is one of those films that teases you with several false endings that give the impression
that this movie is about to be over. Regrettably, it is not to be. I have to wonder just how many studio execs backing this
movie did the same and might have realized how injurious this movie is to one's sense of taste, decency, and propriety.
------------------------
MOVIE SYNOPSIS:
Brake Baldwin (Aaron Eckhart) is out tending to the cattle on the Gilkeson ranch with the Gilkeson hired hand, Emiliano
(Sergio Calderón), when they spot an Apache Indian silently riding through the forest near them. Emiliano makes a bigoted
comment and they turn to challenge the Indian. An old, scraggly long haired man makes his appearance out into the daylight
riding on his horse with a mule in tow carrying his possessions.
It turns out that he speaks English well as he asks for the owner of the ranch and they bring him back to the homestead
with them. He is set up out in the barn while Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett) and her two daughters, Lily (Evan Rachel Wood,
from "Thirteen") and Dot (Jenna Boyd) speculate about who he might be.
Maggie is not happy to meet this man, who seems to know her from some time in the distant past as he calls her "Maggie"
instead of Marge, which is the name she currently goes by. She confesses to Brake and her daughters that this is her long
lost father.
The two girls thrill to the chance that they might be part Indian. But Maggie tells them no, that he is just Samuel Jones,
a white man who deserted her and her family while she was still a young girl. They were left to a life of hardship to the
point that her brother died and she has never forgiven her father for this. Maggie is not happy to see Samuel, even after
the passage of so many years.
But the girls have other thoughts to occupy their time. A traveling show is in the nearby town and the story has it that
there is something in this show called a Victrola which will actually let you hear your own voice being repeated. Lily hates
her life on the ranch and looks forward to any opportunity to go to town or anywhere else where there may be a more exciting
life than the one she is now living. She confides to Dot that she is making plans to run away to a big city back east.
Brake has a quiet moment for love with Maggie. They deeply care for each other, but Maggie is in no hurry to rush into
another marriage. The sudden appearance of her father reminds her of all the emotional conflicts that she endured as a young
girl with two parents who were very unhappy in their marriage.
Brake leaves for town the next day with Lily and a few other people from the neighboring ranches. He promises to be home
by dark, but when the evening comes he still has not reappeared. Maggie sits out anxiously on the porch in the dark waiting,
hoping to hear the whinnying of horses over the hill, but no such sound is heard.
Her concern takes a sharp turn towards dark panic as a rider less horse comes ambling back to the ranch the following
morning. She takes off on the trail towards town and finds signs of activity near the river crossing. As she approaches an
area of still rising smoke from smoldering campfires, she sees the arrow riddled body of Emiliano lying face down on the ground.
There is blood everywhere. A hunting bag built by furs sewn together is tethered to a nearby tree. Slowly turning it around,
Maggie is horrified to see the dead, bloodied face of Brake peering out from a hole in the bag.
She rides hell for leather to the town for help. The sheriff turns her down as he does not have any authority to pursue
anybody past the boundaries of the local area. He suggests that Maggie contact the soldiers at the nearby fort who are currently
searching for marauding Indians.
It is all like a bad dream as she glances at the Victrola demonstration taking place in the middle of the street. Several
women stand about thrilled and captivated to be able to hear their own voices played back to them. A quick look beyond the
sheriff in his office and Maggie sees her father sleeping quietly in a jail cell. He had gotten in a fight the night before.
This is no time to be picky, since she needs all the help that she can get, so Maggie helps him get out of jail.
A visit with the commander of the soldiers at the local fort proves fruitless as Samuel had already shown her that the
tracks of the kidnapers lead south towards the Mexican border and the soldiers are dead set on pursuing other marauding Indians
heading north. This is a pursuit that they themselves must lead.
Dot will not be held back from searching for her beloved older sister, so the three of them set off for the band of Indians.
First one ranch is passed and then another, each torched and the inhabitants all killed, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt,
as if further proof was needed, that this is a particularly brutal and murderous band of Indians.
|
