In Ron Howard's The Missing, Tommy Lee Jones plays Samuel Jones, a frontiersman who years ago ran out on his family to "go native" by joining a local Indian tribe. Some time later, he returns weary, wind-scarred, and destitute to the home of his grown-up daughter Maggie Gilkeson. Of course, he is no longer the Samuel Jones that she knew. Now he is known as "Chaa-duu-ba-its-iidan," a term which roughly translates to "shit-for-luck." And really, has there ever been any other better way to characterize the persona that Jones has developed over the years? Jones has one of those faces to which sadness, resignation, and inevitable tragedy seem permanently etched. His best roles are frequently ones where he plays tired, stubborn old men helplessly out of their element (The Fugitive [1993], Space Cowboys [2000], No Country for Old Men [2007], In the Valley of Elah [2007]). I doubt any other actor could have brought as much pain and pathos to the role of "shit-for-luck." And it's a good thing, too. The Missing is a film with several glaring problems that is only saved through the power of its main performances. The plot, although adapted from a Thomas Eidson novel, seems largely inspired by John Ford's The Searchers (1956). After Maggie (magnificently played by Cate Blanchett) rejects Samuel for leaving her family, her eldest daughter is kidnapped by a band of murderous Apache led by a grotesque racist caricature of a villain named Pesh-Chidin. Pesh-Chidin, while played by an authentic Native Canadian actor (Eric Schweig), nonetheless makes The Searchers' Scar seem politically correct in comparison. Anyhow, Pesh-Chidin's band of Apache have been stealing local young women to be sold into prostitution in Mexico. So Samuel, Maggie, and her youngest daughter Dot (played by Jenna Boyd in the film's third astonishing performance) set out to rescue her and kill Pesh-Chidin. As I said before, The Missing has major issues concerning harmful stereotypes and somewhat cliched plot devices. Its views on the possible legitimacy of Native American magic is suspect as well. One moment it is dismissed as superstitious hogwash and the next it is responsible for nearly killing Maggie. But the film is rescued by its central performances. And chief among those is ol' "shit-for-luck" himself: Tommy Lee Jones.
7/10
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