3/17/2009

The Missing (2003)

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"There's an Apache story about a man that woke up one morning and saw a hawk on the wind. Walked outside and never returned. After he died he met his wife in the spirit world. She asked him why he never came home, he said 'Well, the hawk kept flying'."

Set in the early days of the New Mexico territory, this is the story of Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett), a rancher and healer who lives with her two daughters, Lily (Evan Rachel Wood) and Dot (Jenna Boyd). Her lover, Brake Baldwin (Aaron Eckhart), and ranc hhand Emiliano (Sergio Calderón) also live on the isolated land.

When Maggie's father, Samuel Jones (Tommy Lee Jones), suddenly appears on the scene, Maggie is enraged. Samuel had abandoned Maggie and her mother when Maggie was a child and took up the life of an Indian. She sends Samuel packing.

After a raid on the land, Lily is captured by Apaches lead by Pesh-Chidin (Eric Schweig), a particularly violent man who steals young girls to sell into the slave market in Mexico. WHen Brake and Emiliano are killed by Pesh-Chidin's warriors and the nearest town's sheriff refuses to give assistance, Maggie has no one else to turn to except her father. When she finds him and explains what happened, Maggie, Samuel and Dot track the Apaches to save Lily and any other girls they can.

While slow paced, this film has incredibly tense and threatening moments.

Directed by Ron Howard.

Run time: 2 hours, 17 minutes

Rated R for violence.

My personal rating: B

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