Dir. Ron Howard
The Missing takes place in New Mexico during the 1800s. The main character is Maggie Gilkeson (Blanchett) a healer. She owns a ranch and has two young girls. One day her father shows up, after having abandoned her and her mother twenty-odd years ago to live with the Indians. Maggie throws him off her land but then turns to him for help when Indians kidnap her elder daughter. If they cannot rescue Lily she is destined to be a white slave in Mexico. Since Sam Jones (TL Jones) lives as an Indian he can track the other ones down.
There are so many things about this movie I like Ill have a hard time limiting myself to a reasonable length:
It is visually gorgeous. The scenery is breathtaking and varied. There is a forest, snow-covered plains, desert scapes, canyons, valleys, and all of it is beautiful. Howard knows how to make something look breathtaking (the fires in Backdraft for example) but he hasnt really done it in awhile. He makes up for lost time here.
Another thing I like is that the main character in the script he chose is a strong woman who has lived an incredibly hard life: one in which her father leaving her when she was a child was merely the first bad thing to happen to her and nowhere near the worst thing. Her life isnt all sugar cookies and roses. In fact, hardly anything in her life would qualify as sweet or soft.
Howard and the writers dont make every Indian in this movie into some kind of noble savage. Some are nasty evil people, some are good and sympathetic. Guess what? Same goes for the whites.
There are consequences for bad decisions. It bothers me when saying "Im sorry" makes everything all better because thats not real life. In here, when someone screws up, theyve screwed up. Hows that for realistic?
Sam offers Maggie a choice at one point. She can turn back and raise her remaining daughter. If she continues forward she could lose everything. Her remaining daughter, her captive daughter, and her life. I dont think thats a choice you see in most movies. Go on and risk everything, or hold on to what you have in hand so something can be saved.
As corny as it sounds, the story is simple (a woman and her father go to rescue a girl) and incredibly complex. Human emotions run free here, and they can be nasty and brutal and beautiful and tender. I think its an incredibly well done movie, and recommend it to one and all.
I rate it: Full Price
Tommy Lee Jones as Samuel Jones
Cate Blanchett as Maggie Gilkeson
Aaron Eckhart as Brake Baldwin
Eric Schweig as Chidin
* I refer to Native Americans as Indians in my review because that is how that group is refered to in the movie, and in the time the movie is set. No disrespect is intended.