This movie is so far from being any kind of classic, it's not even funny. Which kills me, because I love Cate Blanchett, I love THE SEARCHERS (which remotely, very remotely inspired it) and I loved the trailer, which suggested a kind of Horror-Thriller-Western hybrid that might have worked, had it been done right.
The blame goes to Ron Howard, who has got to be a candidate for the shallowest directing this side of Don Taylor. Now, Howard knows what substance is supposed to look and sound like, he just doesn't know what substance is. This is not just a problem with THE MISSING, it's a problem with every picture Howard ever made. But THE MISSING, not having a very strong script to begin with, stumbles and collapses under Howard's empty heavy-handedness.
THE MISSING also suffers from that worst of current Hollywood maladies, EXTREME AND UNNECESSARY LENGTH! At 90 minutes, it might have been a nifty little thriller. At 136 minutes, it wallows and succumbs by trying to become "an important motion picture".
Here's a suggestion, when they make the DVD, offer the public two versions of the picture accessible through seamless branching: the theatrical version as directed by Mr. Howard, plus the version that would have been directed by the guy who made the trailer. Now there's somebody who knows what he's doing.
The blame goes to Ron Howard, who has got to be a candidate for the shallowest directing this side of Don Taylor. Now, Howard knows what substance is supposed to look and sound like, he just doesn't know what substance is. This is not just a problem with THE MISSING, it's a problem with every picture Howard ever made. But THE MISSING, not having a very strong script to begin with, stumbles and collapses under Howard's empty heavy-handedness.
THE MISSING also suffers from that worst of current Hollywood maladies, EXTREME AND UNNECESSARY LENGTH! At 90 minutes, it might have been a nifty little thriller. At 136 minutes, it wallows and succumbs by trying to become "an important motion picture".
Here's a suggestion, when they make the DVD, offer the public two versions of the picture accessible through seamless branching: the theatrical version as directed by Mr. Howard, plus the version that would have been directed by the guy who made the trailer. Now there's somebody who knows what he's doing.