The Missing Girl

Saw this at the IMAGINE Ltd (1-day mini version) festival 2015 in the EYE film theater/museum in Amsterdam. The well-constructed scenario demonstrates in hindsight that apparently redundant events or things prove to be really thought out in advance, and with good reason making perfect sense after all. The main protagonists seem a bit one-dimensional at first, but that also proves untrue later on in the proceedings. With maybe a single exception (but how sure are we really that he is the "asshole" everyone says he is?), there are no bad characters in the story. We know what really happened all the time, unlike the protagonists who each follow their own path of uncertainty, each one different from the others, each being sure that he/she is doing the right thing. The latter may be the most inventive aspect of the excellent plot. It proves not to be all that sinister after all, but it follows its original flow and works out in a wonderful way. Especially the script writers did a very good job.

Mort hasn't let go of a lot of things; a passion for comic books, a fear that he let down his detective father, a preoccupation with an unsolved murder committed long ago in his small hometown and an attraction to younger women. It doesn't help his situation when a former schoolmate, Skippy, returns to town. Mort has always disliked this guy. When Skippy starts hitting on Mort's attractive young comic store assistant, Ellen, it bothers Mort. But not nearly so much as when Ellen goes missing soon after. I loved the independent nature of the film, its theme of a man still behaving as a child, and its dark humor. "You have the hand and eye coordination of a clam," says Mort and there are many cute one liners like this but not nearly enough. I wish it had more depth and didn't leave some things hanging, yet overall it was wonderful and quirky in a good way. The filmmakers aren't beholden to anyone and I like it when a film is so free. World premiere seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

"The Missing Girl" has small independent film written all over it. It has a very modest budget, stars mostly folks you probably won't recognize and is anything but the typical formulaic Hollywood picture. Now I am not saying it's a must-see film, but I sure love projects like this one.

Mort (Robert Longstreet) is a middle-aged guy who owns a toy and comic book store, has very little money and is single. By most standards, he's a likable loser...but I must emphasize that he's likable. The problem is that Mort is acutely aware of his life and prospects. So, when he finds himself attracted to his new and much younger assistant, Ellen (Alexia Rasmussen), he says nothing...and longs for her from afar. However, after a strange series of events during which Ellen disappears, Mort is convinced something awful happened to Ellen and he's bound and determined to find her. Much of this is because Ellen reminds him of a girl who was murdered in the town many years before...and he's worried that the same fate might have awaited Ellen.

The story is very simple and the film has very few exciting Hollywood-style moments. Instead, it's full of many nice moments...nice and normal moments involving people who you like. Due to the nice direction by A.D. Calvo and the wonderful acting by everyone (particular Longstreet), I didn't mind that the film lacked explosions, fancy location shoots (this was filmed in a normal Connecticut town) and the like. Plus, it did offer several surprises and deliberately avoided taking the easy or formulaic way. In many ways, this is like a modern re-imagining of "Marty"...a brilliant film which took four Oscars back in 1956. It, too, is about a normal and likable loser who secretly longs for someone to love. So is "The Missing Girl" Oscar material? Nah...but it has heart and made me smile...and sometimes that's more than enough.