She's Gone

Here we go, one more time. Daughter goes to a foreign country, supposedly to do aid work. Father doesn't hear from her. He sets out to find her. It's great though that we have Winstone here, one of my favorite actors. He plays Harry Sands, who goes to Istanbul to track down his missing loved one, who went off with her girlfriend. What he discovers, is a shocking revelation for any parent. The daughter was working as a stripper at a seedy Istanbul revue, some dozes of titty and flesh. Only now she's not working there anymore, and suspicion fall on the son and father who owns the club. Some scenes has Winstone losing it, and we always know they're watchable as he's so believable at dramatics that are not overdone. Soon he becomes obsessed, knocking on other doors, one where a drugged out girl, is kept as a sex slave in a Turkish Bathhouse, who but the that club owner Father and his goons showing up. Thankfully, She's Gone has a happy ending, but the whole film's not enough as we've seen so many of it's type before. It's hardly even suspenseful. The nudity and Winstone are the only two reasons for watching this. Not without mention, but this is one of Ray's lesser known films, that falls pretty weak.

To be honest, the way I'm going at the moment absolutely anything with Ray Winstone in is brilliant. And that goes for this.

I hardly ever watch TV, but when i saw this advertised and starring ray i thought it must be worth a watch and i was right!

The story was gripping and i really felt for Rays character (Harry). I'm not a father (yet) but i cant imagine what it would be like for this to happen to somebody. A really great story.

I would really like to watch the last half hour again, because it seemed to move really fast and i didn't properly get a few parts. The ending was a bit "sudden", there could of done with another half hour or so on the end to tell us more about his daughter etc. 10/10 for me however, i loved it.

I was told about this film – whose original name is SHE'S GONE – by the owner of my local DVD rental outlet since it had been partly shot in Malta. From the title(s), it seemed like a typical 'search for a missing person' thriller – but another point of interest was that it starred stalwart Brit actor Ray Winstone, who gives his typically committed performance.

Even so, I was surprised to find the film not only tolerable but reasonably compelling throughout; incidentally, since the hero's daughter (the missing party) turns out to have been 'operating' in seedy environments and was involved with shady and/or sinister-looking characters (not to mention Winstone's own inherently gruff nature), the narrative can be seen to have similarities with (albeit no match for) the likes of GET CARTER (1971) and HARDCORE (1978). His investigation eventually leads him to high-ranking officials who are chummy with aging perverts involved in human trafficking, a prostitute who impersonates the girl so as to misdirect Winstone into thinking his daughter has returned home, the realization that the teenager herself was a lesbian and that she may have left home knowing he would never have accepted her like this, etc.

As it happens, the Maltese locales are supposed to mirror an Istanbul setting – but they're quite effectively used, lending the whole the appropriate exotic look. However, the ending to the entire mystery results in being both abrupt and, frankly, quite lame!

I love watching Ray Winstone, but let's face it, being a producer is not his strong point. I felt that the the missing daughter didn't actually exist and was just a cover plot, the real plot being that you're watching Ray Winstone. That's nice, but even if you're a fan you still need a bit of a story to go on.

Lindsey Coulson (Carol from Eastenders) was a bad choice to play the wife, she's so annoying and it's unbelievable that he'd be with someone like her. They would have been better off casting some unknown middle aged bimbo.

You can tell that the writers have obviously had no experience with Kurdish people, because if they did they wouldn't be painting them out to be such lovely, simple villagers.

She's gone is a sort of Taken film, where again, a over caring father's search for his missing daughter has him going through a maze of contacts, while not really being able to get a handle on the situation. And it's great to watch Winstone kicks arse. This movie, though I did like it's setting in Istanbul, with it's hidden topless bars whatever, didn't really impress me. I thought it was a little weak, reason being I've seen all of this many, times before, but more so, I'd say recently. There's nothing new here. We find out the daughter was unhappy, turned to stripping, and corrupt and wealthy men got their paws on her, and we're only wondering about her fate, where at least the resolution, was a happy one, which I never expected, but still kind of weakened it, considering the cliché'd path we've taken. I did like the nude belly dancing, and the scene with the pro, kept under lock and key by the Istanbul mafia. She's Gone isn't a Winstone film that's s gonna be remembered, but if you're a Winstone fan, and you like some nudity, these are really the only reasons, to see it.