Terry Simon (Melanie Mayron) is trying to go home after the Chilean coup of 1973 but the airport is shut down. She and her writer friend Charlie Horman (John Shea) may have stumbled upon secret American involvement. Charlie goes missing. His wife Beth (Sissy Spacek) comes home to find it trashed. His father Ed (Jack Lemmon) is given the runaround in Washington and goes down to find his only son himself. Ed trusts his government implicitly, dislike his son's choices and dismisses Beth constantly.
The ending is never really in doubt and that takes away from the drama. Ed could have been written slightly differently. He has issues with Charlie and Beth. His blind faith in the embassy feels wrong even in relations with his experience in Washington. His mantra should be anything to get his son home. Instead he concentrates more on fighting with Beth. It makes him naive at best but also different from his start. Beth can get a bit preachy too. This is a harrowing story and there are compelling scenes.
The ending is never really in doubt and that takes away from the drama. Ed could have been written slightly differently. He has issues with Charlie and Beth. His blind faith in the embassy feels wrong even in relations with his experience in Washington. His mantra should be anything to get his son home. Instead he concentrates more on fighting with Beth. It makes him naive at best but also different from his start. Beth can get a bit preachy too. This is a harrowing story and there are compelling scenes.