The Missing Person

The last great film noir was A Touch of Evil, made 51 years ago. But the genre has never lost its allure and every now and then a filmmaker attempts a neo-noir, some succeeding famously (Chinatown, Body Heat) but most lacking the soul of the classic noirs from the 40's and 50's.

In The Missing Person, director Noah Buschel tries valiantly to recreate the original genre. First, the classic protagonist: Hot star Michael Shannon (Reservation Road) plays John Rosow, a chain-smoking, gin-soaked private detective living in a run-down apartment next to the Chicago L. Then the familiar set-up. A stranger calls and offers way too much money to do what sounds like a simple job. And finally, the twisted tale: Rosow, a former street-smart New York cop, smells something rotten, but is spurred by the money and the conviction that he will be able to outplay the other players.

Shannon makes an intriguing protagonist, grizzled and degenerate but with just enough heart and humanity to make him sympathetic. Unfortunately, the weight of the movie falls entirely on his shoulders. The plot winds its way, with a steady stream of surprises and revelations, but none of them particularly compelling. The secondary characters, especially the perfunctory love-interest, are underdeveloped. And so, despite Shannon's heroic efforts, the film stumbles, and ultimately is tripped up by incredulity and apathy.

Despite these criticisms, film noir lovers will still find enough to enjoy to make the movie worth watching. Just don't expect Orson Welles.

This movie reminded me a bit of James Gray's movies. Simply shot, actor driven, quiet, sincere, and romantic. While "The Missing Person" is much more of an art film than "Two Lovers," I left with the same feeling of having just watched something very personal and very moving. I don't want to give away too much about this movie, but ultimately it is a film about loneliness and being alone. Sound like a downer? It's not. Michael Shannon delivers his best performance yet as a drunk detective who likes to crack himself up with bad jokes(he cracked up the Sundance audience too.) Amy Ryan, Margaret Colin, and a bunch of other familiar faces provide moments of humor and sadness. Mostly what impressed me about "The Missing Person" was that it wasn't hip or clever. And not fancy either. In fact it was almost the opposite of every movie I saw at Sundance. It was mostly just good, honest film-making . Rare qualities indeed in independent film these days.

In "The Missing Person," Michael Shannon goes the Bogart route, playing a cynical, booze-soaked private detective who's hoping to find a little redemption in his latest assignment, trailing a man he knows little to nothing about – not even his name. But before long, John discovers that there's much more to this man than meets the eye, and that the two of them are strangely linked to one another through the tragedy of 9/11. In a way, each of them is a "missing person," one in a literal and one in a figurative sense. Indeed, the best thing about "The Missing Person" is that just as you think the movie is about one thing, it turns out to be about something else altogether.

This moody, bluesy, boozy movie, written and directed by Noah Buschel and co-starring Amy Adams, is deliberate in its pacing and borderline pretentious in style, with characters who speak in clipped phrases, uttering half-articulated thoughts and hardboiled wisecracks as the details of the story spin themselves out. It may not be for every taste, but the movie hauntingly captures the different but equally intense responses people can have to trauma and loss.

Life is often far more complicated than a choice between what we think it's right or wrong. There are so many variables in the game of living, that even after the consequences of the actions we are unable to evaluate the results.

Once again, Michael Shannon surprises us with an extraordinary interpretation of a dense character. The narrative is linear, but the pieces of the puzzle are put together in the right place and time.

Intense darkness and light, irony, sadness, brief fun, every ingredient turns this cocktail into an extraordinary beverage with an exquisite taste.

Make no mistake, this is a superior film.

There is a user comment here that mentions this film as an attempt at classical noir. Not so. It is an art film with surface elements of the noir genre. Probably it would be better off playing at museum than movie theater. At any rate, if you like David Lynch and Robert Frank and Andy Warhol films-- you will love this movie. Michael Shannon delivers his best performance. Finally he is romantic, leading man. The music is amazing. And Joe Lovano shows up to blow sax. The golden, desaturated look fits perfectly with the depressed character and hungover feeling. The best scene has glow in the dark sunglasses in a dark trunk. I wont say anything else.