Catriona Paul at the movies.

DIRECTOR Ron Howard’s first attempt at the Western was the lavish, light-hearted turkey, Far and Away (1992). 12 years on, we have The Missing – a gritty, frontier drama about a girl’s abduction, starring Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones. But has Howard, maker of hits including Parenthood, Apollo 13 and more recently, A Beautiful Mind, fared any better with the Western second-time around?

The answer – not really. Despite a strong story and cast, epic scenery, and plenty of action, it proves strangely unengaging. Maggie Gilkeson (Blanchett) is an unmarried doctor and rancher struggling to make ends meet and provide for her two girls. Her father, (Tommy Lee Jones), re-appears, wanting to make peace after years gone awol with the natives. When her eldest daughter is abducted by a band of Apaches, Maggie and her dad set off in search of the missing girl.

What the film does well is to convey some aspects of 18th century frontier living. The homestead is beautifully recreated: bleak, bare and isolated. The landscape looms over everyday life. Yet once we leave the valley, the film begins to lose points with a shallow script and a hesitant approach towards scenes where white and Native American cultures collide.

Jones and Blanchett play interesting characters. You figure, between the two of them, they’d have something memorable to say. Ken Kaufman, screenplay writer, obviously thought otherwise. When Jones chats with an Indian buddy about a womaniser they once knew, (albeit in Apache), you feel you’ve fallen into Men in Black.

Mixing up goodies and baddies, allowing women into the lead roles, honouring the multiculturalism of the frontier – for a director, the modern Western is a tricky ride. Whilst Howard deserves credit for getting back into the saddle, perhaps he just doesn’t do complicated all that well.

THE MISSING (15)
General release, selected cinemas.

Director: Ron Howard
Screenplay: Ken Kaufman based on a novel by Thomas Eidson
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, Evan Rachel Wood, Jenna Boyd, Aaron Eckhart, Val Kilmer, Sergio Calderon
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 137 mins
Country: USA
Year: 2003

© Catriona Paul, 2004