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Missing - Superbit
But The Missing also hangs around like the last guest at a party: Even after everyone else has left, he's sitting on the sofa or going through your CD collection, and all you want him to do is leave. The Missing just seems to outstay its welcome.
Blanchett plays Maggie Gilkeson, a widowed mother, taking care of her daughters on the New Mexico frontier. When one of her daughters (Even Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by a band of sex slaver sellers, she must reunite with her nomadic father, Samuel Jones (Jones) to find the human smugglers and get her daughter back.
Blanchett and Jones share top billing on the marquee for The Missing, and they make the most of it. Blanchett is at her best playing the strongest of strong women characters (Elizabeth, Veronica Guerin), and as always her portrayal of Maggie is filled with confidence and chutzpah. However, maybe more in this role than the aforementioned ones, here there's a sense of depth – this extra layer of world-weariness that makes Maggie seem all the more human.
Jones, meanwhile, does a brilliant job of … doing nothing. His character is so burnt out that he hardly has to lift his voice. It's those kinds of performances that are often the most difficult; craft will allow you to cry or rage in front of the camera, but being brave enough to be simple is extremely tough.
The wilds of New Mexico are astounding. Totino's cinematography uses the location to its potential, with sweeping panoramic shots of the desert and, by proxy, the isolation of the characters. With so much space and so little in it, the viewer can't help but feel alone – or, at least, notice how alone the characters are.
But at 135 minutes, it just goes on way too long. The script manages to drill home the same ideas repeatedly, especially in the dispute between Maggie and her father. Blanchett and Jones are forced to cover the same material repeatedly together, while the final act goes on for about ten minutes too long. That, combined with the (deservedly) slow pace means that The Missing ends up feeling every bit of its 2 ¼ hour run time.
The DVD
Video:
The anamorphic widescreen transfer of The Missing looks incredibly sharp, though only slightly improved from the original DVD. The biggest improvements come in edge enhancement (now almost completely absent) and color palette (wider and seemingly more "authentic").
Audio:
Both the DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are astounding, but the 5.1 mix might actually trump its counterpart. While subwoofer effects are lighter in the latter, the surround sounds are a bit sharper and seem to be spaced out better.
Extras:
None, as usual for Superbit releases.
Final Thoughts:
Somewhere in The Missing's 135-minute running time is an interesting domestic drama, mixed with a throwback western. The film would be every bit as effective at 110-120 minutes, but is worth a viewing.
As for the Superbit edition, it takes away what was an interesting set of extras from the original two-disc edition in favor of a slightly improved bit rate and marginal video and audio improvement.
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