The Missing (I) (2003)

In 1885 New Mexico, a frontier medicine woman forms an uneasy alliance with her estranged father when her daughter is kidnapped by an Apache brujo.

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers:

Thomas Eidson (novel), Ken Kaufman (screenplay)

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Cate Blanchett, Evan Rachel Wood

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Samuel Jones / Chaa-duu-ba-its-iidan
Cate Blanchett	...	Magdalena Gilkeson
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Lilly Gilkeson
Jenna Boyd	...	Dot Gilkeson
Aaron Eckhart	...	Brake Baldwin
Val Kilmer	...	Lt. Jim Ducharme
Sergio Calderón	...	Emiliano
Eric Schweig	...	Pesh-Chidin / El Brujo
Steve Reevis	...	Two Stone
Jay Tavare	...	Kayitah
Simon Baker	...	Honesco, Kayitah's son
Ray McKinnon	...	Russell J. Wittick
Max Perlich	...	Isaac Edgerly
Ramon Frank	...	Grummond
Deryle J. Lujan	...	Naazhaao / 'Hunter'

Storyline

In 19th-century New Mexico, a father (Tommy Lee Jones) comes back home, hoping to reconcile with his adult daughter Maggie (Cate Blanchett). Maggie's daughter is kidnapped, forcing father and estranged daughter to work together to get her back.

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Plot Keywords:

mexico | new mexico | 19th century | frontier | apache | 

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Taglines:

How far would you go, how much would you sacrifice to get back what you have lost?

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Genres:

Adventure | Thriller | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Official Sites:

Imperial [Poland] Official site [Brazil]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Apache languages Spanish

Release Date:

26 November 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Last Ride

Filming Locations:

New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$37,628 (South Africa) (7 May 2004)

Gross:

$90,340 (South Africa) (7 May 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios, Imagine Entertainment, Daniel Ostroff Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min 154 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett have both appeared in films about Howard Hughes. Jones played Hughes himself in The Amazing Howard Hughes, and Blanchett played Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator.

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Goofs

Even though the film is set in the 1800s, in one of the panned shots near the homestead, there are distinct, tightly-spaced logging roads visible on one of the distant hillsides.

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Quotes

Samuel: [about owl watching over a dead man] Some people say that's a sign.
Dot Gilkeson: A good sign or a bad sign?
Samuel: It wasn't too good for that fellow.

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Connections

Referenced in Arrested Development: The B. Team (2013)

User Reviews

Bleak, chilling suspense on the frontier.

The premise of this film that the main character (played by Cate Blanchett) is a rancher and doctor living in the wilds of New Mexico. Her daughter is kidnapped by a group of outlaws led by a psychopathic witch doctor. At the same time, her estanged father (played by Tommy Lee Jones) enters her life, and she is faced with her deep hatred of him, weighed against her need for his help. The rest of the story I won't give away.

I've read whisperings of Oscar nominations, which may be a fair statement, but although these rumors have been directed towards Blanchett, I would say that Jones had the stronger performance. Blanchett was excellent as well though, depicting a hard-laboring no-nonsense rancher perfectly, not trying to inject any glamour into her role whatsoever, as might have been the case if certain other big name actresses had played the role. I am forever amazed by Blanchett's versatility! The girls playing the daughters were excellent

too, 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. The heroic rescue attempts were not without their screw-ups, making the story much more realistic than a typical Western shoot-em-up hero movie.

I also enjoyed the element of mysticism, which was pulled off without being too corny. The main villain in this film was quite possibly the creepiest, ugliest villain to grace the screen in years! Yet somehow it wasn't too trite either.

My personal beef with most Hollywood epics is that friggin' annoying sweeping soundtrack music, which practically spells out to you how you are supposed to feel, replacing the emotion that should have been created by the acting and directing. Thankfully, the soundtrack didn't overwhem this film. Just some well placed ambient music which supplemented the scenes nicely.

Definitely one of the better films I've seen lately. I rate it 8/10.