Mon 3 May 2010
THE MISSING PERSON. 2009. Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan, Frank Wood, Linda Emond, Paul Sparks, Margaret Colin, John Ventimiglia. Screenwriter & director: Noah Buschel.
This is a private eye movie, and as you probably all know, if a PI movie is made in the year 2009, there has to be a reason. This one starts out as a spoof, sort of, or so I thought for quite some time.
You know what I mean, I think. Michael Shannon plays John Rosow, a former New York City cop who now ekes out a living as a PI in Chicago.
He’s a hard drinker, an incessant smoker, and he does damn fool things like speak tough guy narration over the first few scenes, among others, every so often as the movie goes along.
Speaking of smoking, though, another incessant bit of business that goes with his lighting up is that every time he does, whoever’s in the scene with him immediately asks him to put it out, and that’s the kind of movie this movie starts out to be.
He’s hired to look out for a guy whose wife is looking for him, to follow him and see where he’s going and what he does. It turns out that the man, a middle-aged balding fellow (played by Frank Wood) is taking the train to California (and San Diego in particular) with a young Mexican boy.
And in California a woman played by Margaret Colin picks Rosow up in a bar, and somehow she’s part of the story, which by this time, nearly a third of way through we (the viewer) have next to no idea what’s gong on, except in bits and pieces. If Rosow knows more than we do, he’s putting on a pretty good act.
Speaking of Margaret Colin, though, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her in anything worth watching, but even when the movie or TV show she’s in isn’t worth watching, she always is.
In this movie we see more of her than usual, so that was a plus factor for watching, I admit it, right then and there, and when I watch this movie again, she’ll be one of the primary reasons.
The story gets out of control more than ever when Rosow confronts two FBI agents in an alley behind his motel right around this same time, a meeting which ends with the pair (male and female) giving him a pair of sunglasses with glow-in-the-dark frames.
It turns out that these frames have a small but important part of the movie, if not the story itself. But once Rosow is in Mexico, and he learns why the man he has been tailing is doing there, the story does turn serious, having significant post-9/11 implications and more, including the reason he was hired for such an outwardly innocuous job in the first place.
I’ll say no more about that. You can call this movie “art house” noir, if you like, but behind the faux pretentiousness, there was some thought put into the making of this movie.
Don’t give up on it, once you start. This may be the best PI movie made in 2009, and you may quote me on that.
PostScript: I meant to work this quote into the review, but now that I’m done, I don’t see any place to put it, other than now. Amy Ryan plays Miss Charley, the staid but polite liaison between Rosow and the lawyer who’s hired him. Says Rosow, “I told her she could be my secretary, once I got a few more assignments. But she said she didn’t mix business with pleasure. I promised her I was no pleasure. Yuk, yuk, yuk.”
Also, while I have you here and before I let you go, every good PI movie has to have a jazz background, right? And one of the jazz players has to be pretty good with a saxophone. The Missing Person qualifies on both counts. The sax player in question is Joe Lovano:
[UPDATE.] Later the same day. Vince Keenan’s take on this film can be found here on his blog. I saw he’d reviewed it but I didn’t read what he had to say until after I’d written up my own comments. I’m pleased to say that when it comes to noir, like minds think alike, at least this time.
May 3rd, 2010 at 1:53 am
You had me at Margaret Colin. I’ve been following her ever since I first saw her as the female Watson to a Sherlock Holmes frozen by Moriarity and awakened in the late 20th century in a pilot for a series that didn’t sell.
And isn’t all post modern noir pretty much the art house variety today? It’s been a while since I saw anything that felt the least original or authentic. Even the good ones tend to pretension and self parody to some extent — much the same as today’s westerns. They seem to be shouting, ‘Look at me, I’m a film noir!’ rather than actually being film noir.
May 3rd, 2010 at 1:41 pm
I’d totally forgotten about that Sherlock Holmes movie. It was called, not too surprisingly, THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. Colin played Jane Watson, while Michael Pennington was Holmes.
It was as much a comedy as it was a mystery, as I recall, with Holmes of course confused and distracted by the new modern world he finds himself in — but not enough, of course, to diminish his detective skills.
Same premise as ADAM ADAMANT LIVES!, the British series from the mid-1960s, except that Adamant seemed to have adjusted a lot faster, driving around as he did in a mini Cooper by the second episode.
Margaret Colin was a PI herself in a short-lived series called LEG WORK. Supposedly they filmed 10 episodes but the show was canceled after only 6 of them aired.
Network dorks.
May 3rd, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Like minds think alike indeed, Steve. THE MISSING PERSON is a strange film, starting out as a low-key send-up but then building into something quite powerful. And you’re so right about Margaret Colin.
May 5th, 2010 at 6:32 am
Steve, somehow this one passed under my radar but I have to agree with you and David about Margaret Colin. She makes even a thankless role (like the one she played in INDEPENDENCE DAY) worth watching. Terrific voice, and she’s tall.
May 5th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Jeff–
Anyone who’s a fan of Margaret Colin should not miss this movie.
Any male who sees this movie will become a fan for life of Margaret Colin.
I guarantee it. No ifs, ands, or buts. No fine print!
— Steve
June 10th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
[…] the same story as Sherlock Homes Returns, only earlier, was previously mentioned on this blog back here. It’s in Comment #2 following a review of The Missing Person, another movie with Margaret […]