Las desapariciones

Ron Howard directs Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, Evan Rachel Wood, and Val Kilmer in "The Missing," a 2003 western.

Cate Blanchett plays Maggie Gilkeson, a medical woman in 1885 New Mexico, where she lives with her daughters and a ranch hand Brake (Aaron Eckhart), who is also her lover. One day, her father Samuel (Tommy Lee Jones) shows up after 20 years. She wants nothing to do with him as he left the family to go live with the Indians.

He finally gets the message and takes off, only to become drunk in town and land in jail. Meanwhile, Maggie's daughter Lily has been kidnapped and Brake murdered, apparently by Indians. Unable to get help from the sheriff, Maggie reluctantly has her father released from jail and asks for his help in finding her daughter.

Lily and other girls have been kidnapped with the intention of selling them into prostitution. The kidnappers are a combination of renegade Indians and whites who are working with them. Maggie, her father, and her young daughter, who refuses to be left behind, set out on their trail.

Glorious-looking film that points up the brutality of life in the west, as well as the filth, and the strength that people had to have to survive. A woman had to be able to use a rifle, hunt, skin a deer, and do all the things that the men had to do.

My understanding is that this film bombed; I'm not sure why. It has wonderful performances and no expense was spared, and also, as far as the violence, seems realistic.

Cate Blanchett gives a magnificent performance as Maggie, a determined woman made of steel, who doesn't care what her father does for her - she still hates him. Tommy Lee Jones is a no-nonsense faux Indian (he might be part-Indian - this isn't made clear, but it seems unlikely) who knows his way around and believes in all the Indian lore. In one striking scene, Maggie becomes extremely ill -- according to Samuel, the brujo (Indian witch) put a curse on her. He calls in one of the Indians helping them to break the spell; meanwhile, her daughter reads the Bible out loud.

"The Missing" is reminiscent of "The Searchers" but here, the relationship between Samuel and Maggie goes a little deeper than thqt of Martin and Ethan. Maggie slowly moves from dislike to an uneasy alliance to a limited understanding of Samuel and finally, acceptance and gratitude, even if it's without total understanding. For Samuel, he is doing what he was told to do by a medicine man -- return to his family and protect them.

Truly excellent film, an old-fashioned western in many ways, intertwined with a strong relationship story and suspense.

It's 1885 New Mexico, Samuel Jones (Tommy Lee Jones) has return to reconcile with his estranged daughter Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett). He had abandoned her 20 years ago, and she rejects him right away. When her oldest daughter Lilly (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by Indian outlaws, Maggie must seek his father's help.

This is a departure from the usual Ron Howard fare. It's moody atmosphere can be attributed mostly to Tommy Lee Jones' performance. It's a fascinating side note to Howard's career and great to see him imitate 'The Searchers'. There is a lot of ugliness being shown but the ending is too traditional for this stark dark tale. I think Howard couldn't really go to the lower depths in the end. It's a great effort for an accomplished director to go outside his comfort zone.

God, how this film touched me. I saw something in Ms. Blanchett that I have never seen before; she actually became the character from the book and I was moved. After seeing the movie I tracked the book down ( it was difficult believe it or not ) and finished it in six hours. I am wondering why the screen writers changed the final scenes. Don't get me wrong, Ron Howard makes good to great movies ( this is a solid film from the historical point of view as well ) but I am left with more questions for him than I feel I will ever get answers.

The premise of this film that the main character (played by Cate Blanchett) is a rancher and doctor living in the wilds of New Mexico. Her daughter is kidnapped by a group of outlaws led by a psychopathic witch doctor. At the same time, her estanged father (played by Tommy Lee Jones) enters her life, and she is faced with her deep hatred of him, weighed against her need for his help. The rest of the story I won't give away.

I've read whisperings of Oscar nominations, which may be a fair statement, but although these rumors have been directed towards Blanchett, I would say that Jones had the stronger performance. Blanchett was excellent as well though, depicting a hard-laboring no-nonsense rancher perfectly, not trying to inject any glamour into her role whatsoever, as might have been the case if certain other big name actresses had played the role. I am forever amazed by Blanchett's versatility! The girls playing the daughters were excellent

too, specially the youngest one, who had a number of intense emotional scenes.

I liked the bleak feeling presented in the film...the raw climate, the hopelessness combined with determination that the characters portrayed. The heroic rescue attempts were not without their screw-ups, making the story much more realistic than a typical Western shoot-em-up hero movie.

I also enjoyed the element of mysticism, which was pulled off without being too corny. The main villain in this film was quite possibly the creepiest, ugliest villain to grace the screen in years! Yet somehow it wasn't too trite either.

My personal beef with most Hollywood epics is that friggin' annoying sweeping soundtrack music, which practically spells out to you how you are supposed to feel, replacing the emotion that should have been created by the acting and directing. Thankfully, the soundtrack didn't overwhem this film. Just some well placed ambient music which supplemented the scenes nicely.

Definitely one of the better films I've seen lately. I rate it 8/10.

I'm typically not a fan of Westerns - being female may have something to do with it. But I liked this one. It has a good story, along with superb character development that causes you to care what's going on in the film.

The most stand out aspect for me was the villain played by Eric Schweig. He totally creeped me out. I looked up his IMDb photos and he looks nothing like he did in the film - so the makeup department had a lot to do with making his face as ugly as they did. It really adds to the evil nature of this man.

Jones is quite convincing as a white man wanting to be Indian. His face looks so aged and weathered - you believe he has lived out in the harsh western wilderness all his life. I'm a big fan of his and could watch him do his thing all day.

The director and writers did a good job of creating tension and suspense in the film. There are numerous fight and chase scenes that had me on the edge of my seat. There is quite a bit of explicit violence so this isn't one for young kids to watch.

I think the movie weaves a good tale of hardship, tragedy, failings, forgiveness and redemption. The title, I think, refers to not only her daughter that is missing - I think it refers to several themes missing in the life of Cate Blanchett's character. First, there is the missing dad that abandoned her. There's the missing trust of men in general since she apparently was the victim of rape - and that subsequently resulted in the birth of her daughter. There are also the fathers of her daughter's who are no where to be seen - so that her daughters are having to grow up without a dad as well. No husband either (just a live-in boyfriend). She is totally alone and has to fend for herself and her girls. Blanchett does a great job of bringing the steeliness of her character to life.

Without giving away what happens, I found the ending very touching.