Director
Ron Howard turns to the Western genre in this tale of a father and daughter who are brought together under difficult circumstances. Samuel Jones (
Tommy Lee Jones) is a man living in New Mexico in the 1880s. He had abandoned his family years before to live and travel with a band of Apaches, but his conscience has finally gotten the better of him and he's decided to return home. Jones, however, does not receive a warm welcome upon arrival -- his wife has died and his daughter Maggie Gilkeson (
Cate Blanchett), now grown and raising two children with her husband Brake (
Aaron Eckhart), has no desire to see the man who left her mother to fend for herself. As Jones prepares to depart on a note of bitterness, a band of ruthless bandits, let by Army deserter Chidin (
Eric Schweig), descends upon the homestead, murdering Brake and kidnapping his 15-year-old daughter Lily (
Evan Rachel Wood). While Maggie feels no desire to forgive her father, she realizes he's her best hope to track down the criminals who took her child, and Jones and Maggie team up to find the bandits before they can disappear into Mexico. The Missing was based on the novel The Last Ride by Thomas Eidson.
Val Kilmer and Jenna Boyd highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide