Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Jim Campilongo on February 07, 2006 at 08:41:08

Despite the good acting performances and nice cinematography The Missing , well ... had a lot missing for me.
At first I was surprised by how dark and hardcore this Ron Howard film was. Usually he's so "Opie"...

The always fun to look at Kate Blanchett employs her craggily and estranged father Tommy Lee Jones to rescue her kidnapped teenage daughter . Her daughter, and other young virgins (actually a few had babies) are abducted for white slavery prostitution, by the mystical evil incarnate Indian brujo witch.

This pock marked witch travels with his gang of savage, bloodthirsty, giggling, drunk and staggering Indians (and a white guy with real bad teeth!). His trail is littered with victims that are blinded, burned , baked and stabbed while he navigates his brood of young, whimpering woman.

The torture scenes are done by way of brief horrific glances and in more then one case, I saw something I wish I hadn't. In a less graphic little vignette we see the Brujo forcing Kate Blanchett's daughter to eat dirt while saying " ...this is what your life will taste like..."

The entire lead up and story line involving crucifixes, ju-ju, black magic, lucky beads, lucky numbers, good and bad luck and other form of witchcraft applied by both the good and bad guys was dropped like a hot voodoo doll..... Instead we get a Indian shooting gallery Hollywood ending. Well almost ...Tommy Lee's character does attain retribution before the closing credit hailed " DIRECTED BY RON HOWARD"

For me most annoying thing about "The Missing" was the relentless use music. Bad music. I hear this more and more these days- it's this new-age B.S. that offers no real melody... just panpipes with a swelling orchestra that reads a score that basically doodles on the pentatonic scale.

No happy days here folks!