The Missing Person

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.

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.

After seeing "Neal Cassady" at the Woodstock Film Festival last year, I was interested to see what young director Noah Buschel would do with the noir genre. I was not disappointed.

Like his beat "biopic," Buschel turns the genre right on it's head and makes something completely fresh and new. "The Missing Person" has very little to do with it's surface elements, and much more to do with innovative and original film-making.

Michael Shannon delivers his best performance to date. It's him in full movie star wattage. He looks great, he sounds great, and he makes a great damaged hero. The rest of the cast is so superb you almost wish there was more of them in the film.

Perhaps the best use of jazz music I've heard in a film.

There will be those who want a faster paced movie. More violence and quickness and loudness. They should just watch "Brick." That was a good example of a shallow neo-noir. This is not "Brick." This is a deep and unique film about loss. And also, somehow, a hilarious film about loss.

Geoffrey Gilmore, the festival director, introduced "The Missing Person" the night I saw it at Sundance. He said that it was the first film accepted at Sundance this year and that Buschel was doing something no one else was doing right now, which was going back to old forms and making them new again. A lost art, he said. Something that 70's directors used to do a lot.

The key point he made was that "The Missing Person" was an utterly unique film in the guise of a noir film. I couldn't agree more.

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.

The cinematography in this film is phenomenal and the direction is superb and skillful. The Missing Person is ultimately tugs at the heartstrings. The lead character played by Michael Shannon is adequate. I don't think he completely had what the role required - something to draw you in. He plays the role too flat. Unfortunately its what brings down my rating on this film to a large degree. I also felt that the script was way too limited in some dialogue or narration. There's one point where you're watching cars following each other for what seems like hours. I was completely engrossed in the beautiful camera and location work in this film and ultimately - I got it.