Stolen (2009)

A detective deals with the loss of his own son while trying to uncover the identity of a boy whose mummified remains are found in a box buried for fifty years.

Director:

Anders Anderson

Writer:

Glenn Taranto

Stars:

Jon Hamm, Josh Lucas, Rhona Mitra

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jon Hamm	...	Tom Adkins Sr.
Josh Lucas	...	Matthew Wakefield
Rhona Mitra	...	Barbara
James Van Der Beek	...	Diploma / Rogianni
Jessica Chastain	...	Sally Ann
Joanna Cassidy	...	Lea Adkins
Jimmy Bennett	...	John Wakefield
Morena Baccarin	...	Rose Montgomery
Michael Cudlitz	...	Jonas
Andy Milder	...	William Daniels
Holt McCallany	...	Swede
Jude Ciccolella	...	Police Chief
Rick Gomez	...	Officer JJ
Marcus Thomas	...	Pete Dunne
Graham Phillips	...	Mark Wakefield

Storyline

A detective deals with the loss of his own son while trying to uncover the identity of a boy whose mummified remains are found in a box buried for fifty years.

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Plot Keywords:

children | toy | wooden box | retarded child | voice over narration | 

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Taglines:

Secrets from the past don't stay buried.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a scene of sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stolen

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,391, 19 March 2010, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$7,306, 4 April 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

2 Bridges Productions,A2 Entertainment Group,Boy in the Box

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the 1958 part of the story, Matthew refers to the car he drives as "the Rambler." In fact, the car is a 1958 model, which was a new body style, and the first Rambler model designed and built by American Motors Corporation as the Rambler Ambassador. All previous models to 1958 where Nash Ramblers (1950-1957) or Hudson Ramblers (1954-1957), which were the constituent companies merged in 1954 to form American Motors Corporation.

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Goofs

In the 1958 scenes, the box is shown variously as painted and unpainted. In a time-lapse scene, we see the box age from unpainted raw wood to dark and moldy, but when it is being buried, it is already dark.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Tom Adkins Sr.: He has his mother's eyes. Her hair. My face, my laugh. First time I held him I knew he was my son. The best of me and his mother. I can still see his eyes light up watching those fireworks. I gave him everything a father can give a son. And now with all this searching, being a cop, being a father, I still can't find my boy.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Cop Out/The Crazies/A Prophet (2010)

User Reviews

Very good mystery movie

My wife and I found this on our pay per view channel, and from the synopsis, thought it looked worth watching. We were not disappointed. This is a very good film, in the genre of "Chinatown" and "Changeling". The story (without spoilers), is briefly as follows:

A police detective (John Hamm) has lost his only son eight years earlier, when he went to the restroom in a diner. The usual guilt and strain on his marriage ensues, as he tries to go through life with this unsolved mystery haunting him.

He is drawn into a case of another missing child, and becomes obsessed with that search, to try to find some vindication for what has happened to him. Throughout this exploration, the story is told in two stories, of him and the father of the other missing child, creating parallels, and differences in the two cases.

Eventually the dots connect and lead to a very dramatic ending. although it's a little too neatly tied up.

This is a very entertaining movie, which grabs your interest from the start, engages you with the duplicate stories throughout, and provides some twists and turns at the end, for added effect.

I really enjoyed it and am surprised that it wasn't released theatrically, as I think it is much better than the current "Ghost Writer", for example. It's a good mystery tale, and very worth watching!