The Missing (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

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Samuel Jones
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	...	Chidin
Steve Reevis	...	Two Stone
Jay Tavare	...	Kayitah
Simon Baker	...	Honesco
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:

child gagged | revisionist western | new mexico territory | apache territory | sonora mexico | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tommy Lee Jones also portrayed a tracker in The Hunted, which came out the same year, and which also featured Jenna Boyd, who plays his granddaughter in The Missing.

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Goofs

After Jones follows the hawk back to his family he sits on the ground talking to Maggie. The wind blows Jones' hair and doesn't mess up Maggie's hair even though they are a few feet from each other. When the wind blows, Jones' extension clips can be seen and his "real" hair blows above his head, as it is much shorter than the extensions.

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Quotes

Samuel: I didn't kill anyone! I said I didn't kill anyone! I am looking for my grand-daughter!
Lieutenant: Then tell me her damn name!
Samuel: I don't *know* her damn name!

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Alternate Versions

Although the film was shot in the Super 35 format for 2.39:1 and protected for 1.33:1, the VHS and the Full Screen DVD mostly Pans and Scans as if it were shot in Anamorphic Widescreen instead of properly framing it for Full Frame as most Super 35 films are. Only a few shots in this movie were reframed properly.

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Connections

Remake of The Searchers (1956)

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Soundtracks

The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze
(uncredited)
Lyrics by George Leybourne
Music by Gaston Lyle

User Reviews

Good western with glimmer and glittering landscapes

The picture deals with a family formed by the mother (Cate Blanchett) , two daughters and her lover (Aaron Eckart ). The grandfather (Tommy Lee Jones) appears after long time . Then , the oldest daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by the Chiricaghua Apaches and they set out in looking her for . They will have to confront a lot of dangers and they will track down a group of Indians commanded by a villain and ominous sorcerer . The confrontation will be terrible .

In the film there are shootouts , noisy action , wonderful landscapes , fights and a little bit of violence . In the support cast of the film appears various actors who usually play Indians roles , such as Eric Schweig and Steve Reevis , because being native origin , and both of them along with Tommy Lee Jones learned some words of the Chiricaghua language . Eric Schweig along with Wes Studi , Graham Greene , Tantoo Cardinal , Michael Spears , Rodney A Grant and Floyd Westerman , among others , appear in almost all movies with Indians , starting with : ¨Dancing with wolves¨ and continuing with ¨The last Mohican¨ . And a brief role for Val Kilmer, who previously worked together director Ron Howard in Willow , as Kilmer lives on a nearby New Mexico ranch, agreed to producers a secondary cameo in this film . The motion picture didn't obtain success and was a real flop at box office , in spite of the extraordinary sets (New Mexico) , enjoyable cinematography and atmospheric musical score by the great James Horner. The flick will appeal to Indians western fans

Details

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 USA:

$10,833,633, 30 November 2003

Gross USA:

$27,011,180

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$38,364,277

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:

2.39 : 1