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 [pl] Official site [br]

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, Eric Schweig, David Midthunder and Val Kilmer have all appeared in the Lonesome Dove films. Jones appeared in Lonesome Dove, Schweig appeared in Dead Man's Walk, and Midthunder and Kilmer appeared in Comanche Moon.

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Goofs

Ray McKinnon's character, Russell J. Wittick is seen during the final rescue, although he is supposedly dead at the time.

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Quotes

Samuel Jones: You take this money for your children.
Maggie Gilkeson: No, you take it for your funeral.

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Connections

Remake of The Searchers (1956)

User Reviews

A solid western from Howard and a good followup.

Yet another movie in which I wanted to, while watching, reach into the TV and slap Evan Rachel Wood for being such a whiner. Either she's REALLY perfected this role (Thirteen being a notable example) or.....well, anyway. I felt this was a good followup to the overrated "A Beautiful Mind" and a satisfying blend of western and downright scares. Cate Blanchett gave her usual excellent performance as a single mother and hardy frontierswoman, and carried the movie along quite well at times when it was slow. Tommy Lee Jones, in a role that seems well made for him, played the laconic, repentant, and often bad-ass faux-Apache with the same charisma he brought to "The Fugitive" and "Men In Black" (not the second one, which sucked. Majorly.), and acquitted himself well to a role that wasn't very likeable to begin with. A surprising supporting cast, including Aaron Eckhart, Jenna Boyd, Jay Tavare, and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Val Kilmer, fleshed out the less-than-complex storyline, and Eric Schweig was a very creepy villain. The movie made great use of the New Mexican scenery and used the bleak and forbidding atmosphere to really heighten the tension. Some great camera work (particularly during the first horse chase and showing the fates of those exposed to the Brujo's mystical dust stuff) and art direction push this movie above average westerns. My only complaint was the score, which was like some kind of amalgam of the scores of "Braveheart" and "Willow", both of which James Horner wrote and one of which Ron Howard directed. But you probably knew that.