Spacek and Lemmon are fine as the missing man's wife and father, but what makes the film so overwhelming in places is its unending night-time imagery of a society coming apart at the seams.
Comment
06/24/06
Missing (1982)
96
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:25
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: Thanks in large part to strong performances by Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon, Missing is both a gripping character exploration and an effective political thriller.
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Constantin Costa-Gavras made his English-language film debut with this political thriller, based on a true story. Although the nation depicted is never named directly, the action clearly... [More]
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, John Shea, Melanie Mayron
Director: Costa Gavras
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Reviews for Missing
Lemmon and Spacek are the film's highlight... It's a winning formula, and it's too bad that there isn't more of it.
10/24/08
Costa-Gavras's emotionally riveting and thought-provoking 1982 film still has the power to shake viewers out of their indifference to Latin America.
01/24/02
Among other things Missing does is to convince you that, next time, you're not going to waste your vote. The passive citizen is the citizen-victim.
05/20/03
Top CriticA story that could have made for a brisk jeremiad on 60 Minutes is stretched to 122 minutes of heroes fuming and villains purring their oleaginous apologies. Spacek and Lemmon, an appealing sweet-and-sour combo, sink in the swamp of good intentions.
03/29/09
Top CriticA gutsy, surprising piece of work, a bold political tract that doubles proficiently as an interpersonal drama.
05/22/04
This movie might have really been powerful, if it could have gotten out of its own way.
10/23/04
Top CriticTime has not only been kind to the film, but has, -- unfortunately -- made it relevant all over again.
09/20/06
In Costa-Gavras's fact-inspired political melodrama, Jack Lemmon gives one of his strongest performances as a naive, conservative American who gets rude political awakening when his leftist son is executed with the tacit knowledge of the US government
06/12/07
engrossing, fascinating, and endlessly tragic.
12/23/08
Lemmon is superior as a man facing up to issues he never wanted to confront personally.
03/26/09
Top CriticSome tragic and disturbing films stick with you, long after you’ve seen them, filling you with dread and a wish that they don’t represent real life.
06/14/03
Though Costa-Gavras clearly has a political axe to grind, he manages to do so without haranguing the viewer, keeping the film's focus on his characters and masterfully building tension as the story moves toward its stinging resolution.
03/29/09
Lemmon temporarily abandons the comic performances that made his name to deliver a tour-de-force of considerable power...
05/24/03
Terrific work from Lemmon and Spacek highlights Costa Gavras' American debut.
03/21/05
"designed to shake you up, and it succeeds"
07/29/02
Terrific, brutal political thriller -- boy, they don't make them like this anymore.
04/17/03
No review available.
02/02/08
No review available.
02/27/04
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