Without a Trace (Sin dejar huella) is, unquestionably, a road trip movie. And it may have its rewards if you surrender yourself to just watching things happening, much as you'd idly watch the passing scenery from a car window on a long trip. However, if you try to make some sense out of the story, or to relate to it in any other way than "stuff that's happening," Without a Trace is a road map to disappointment, despite plenty of signs that it could have been a good film.

As Without a Trace begins, we are introduced to two Mexican women who appear to be in trouble: a single mother named Aurelia, and a woman named Marilu who turns out to be transporting fake Mayan art. For reasons that are poorly explained, Aurelia leaves her job and her boyfriend, dumps one child with a friend, and heads off with the baby for a new horizon. In fact, not only her motivation for leaving but also her choice of destination, her reasons for taking one child but not the other, and her eventual goal are all left completely hazy. The situation of the second character, Marilu, is, if anything, even less coherently presented. After being hassled by some overly-familiar police officers, she takes off to parts unknown. Like Aurelia, we have no indication of where she wants to go or why she needs to get there. Adding to the muddle is the fact that she's being tailed by some people, but it's unclear who they are or why they're following her.

Without a Trace is one of the most frustrating films I've seen lately. Superficially, the film is well done: this is not a clumsy amateur effort, but a polished-looking and well acted production. It's impossible not to constantly feel like you're missing something, however. The characters may be believable, but their objectives are never explained; in fact, the entire film has the feeling of something being held back from the viewer. Yet we aren't rewarded by an interesting resolution, either. Eventually, more than halfway through the film, a skeleton of a plot appears, as the women are thrown more directly into conflict with their mysterious pursuers. But even here we continue to get characters behaving in inexplicable ways, and eventually the story just... stops. It could be called a conclusion, but that would imply a sense of resolution and satisfaction that's absent. I suppose if you were watching the film just to appreciate the portrayals of the two main characters, there's nothing terribly wrong with the ending (or with the film as a whole), but if you actually were hoping that it would make sense and pull together the loose ends from the rest of the movie, you're out of luck.

It's clear that the film draws a heavy influence from Thelma and Louise, with its story of two women forging a relationship as they make a cross-country trip fleeing from the law. However, Without a Trace lacks the initial "hook" of Thelma and Louise to get us interested in these people, instead muddling along for nearly 45 minutes before really getting the pieces assembled, and it doesn't have the narrative coherence of that film, either.

The DVD

Video

Without a Trace is presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and is anamorphically enhanced. The quality is reasonably good throughout, with natural-looking colors and good contrast. There's a touch of grain in darker scenes, and the print does show quite a few small speckles and print flaws, though.

Pleasingly, the subtitles are completely optional. Viewers have the choice of English, Spanish, or no subtitles. They're in a quite readable white lettering, and offer a decent translation of the dialogue.

Audio

The Spanish Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is adequate. The overall sound is clean and free of any noise or distortion, but dialogue tends to be slightly muffled. The music portions of the soundtrack, whether from the background score or from incidental music in the scene like a car radio, also tend to be played at slightly too high a volume, which again tends to obscure the dialogue slightly. It's not a bad soundtrack, just one that doesn't offer much beyond the basics.

Optional English and Spanish subtitles are included.

Extras

Trailers for Lucia Lucia and the Cinema Latino line are included.

Final thoughts

Without a Trace is a film that looks like it ought to work better than it does. With nicely done cinematography and solid performances by the two leads in its favor, Without a Trace ends up stumbling over a script (and a plot) that's full of gaping holes to frustrate the viewer. Viewed only as a "road trip through Mexico" movie, Without a Trace may be watchable, but in any case I'd certainly suggest renting it rather than buying it.