Riveting mystery as we try to find out what happened to young Brian while on his road trip from Canada to Colorado. It's like he just dropped off the planet as Mom, Dad and brothers search for his missing van and clues to the vanishing. There's a subtext here in what the epilogue states is a true story- namely how red-tape, over-work, and general indifference impedes the official investigation that mainly goes nowhere, whether it's cops, FBI, or administrators. In fact, the epilogue states that thousand of kids go missing every year. Let's hope they get better treatment than the Walker family gets from a ineffectual bureaucracy.
As mom Walker, actress Burstyn delivers, in spades. The anguish and frustration almost drips off her as she encounters one dead end after another in search of her son. About half-way through, focus shifts to a private investigator played by Prosky whose professional skills take over for the exhausted Burstyn who has hired him. For an old movie freak like me, Prosky's homely, overweight, and aging appearance are the polar opposite of the sleekly tough PI's of yore. Nonetheless, he's affecting in his dedication. However, I wish we knew why he carries on in what appears personal dedication rather than just professional. Perhaps it's because of Mom's lingering anguish as the trail seems to go nowhere, while the authorities furnish only excuses. On the minor downside, for me at least, there's no definite sense of place as the search supposedly moves from one state to another. Some such would have provided a greater sense of reality for a scenario that stresses realism. That may be because of budget constraints and the fact that filming was limited to the Vancouver area of British Columbia (IMDB).
Anyway, it's a spell-binding flick with a single-minded narrative whose outcome can't be foreseen. Be sure to catch up unless you're feeling really frustrated, like Mom.
