Nearly every major character in writer-director Noah Buschel’s film noir The Missing Person is missing something: a spouse, a moral compass, a fulfilling life.
Although it’s set in the shadow of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the stylishly directed movie is a throwback to the private eye movies of the 1930s-40s.
Revolutionary Road’s Michael Shannon is terrific as John Rosow, a Chicago gumshoe
who’s a gruff loner with a world-weary, cynical air and a gravelly voice which bespeaks an unhealthy fondness for martinis and cigarettes.
Rosow is awakened one morning by a call from an attorney who offers him $500 a day plus expenses, 'not including gin," to tail a guy on a train to Los Angeles.
He accepts and lawyer’s associate Miss Charlie (Amy Ryan) turns up at his dingy apartment to deliver an envelope with a picture of the mark, whose name we later learn is Harold Fullmer (Frank Wood).
On the train Rosow is surprised to see Frank is accompanied by a Mexican boy. In LA he follows the pair to a Hollywood hotel and checks into the room next door. The appearance of a mysterious woman named Lana and two FBI special agents adds to the intrigue.
Rosow tails Harold and the kid through the desert to a village in Mexico where, after being knocked unconscious, he’s told Harold isn’t a pederast, he rescues kids who are in peril.
Back in LA, Rosow finally confronts Harold. From here the plot takes several unlikely turns as the private eye persuades Harold to fly with him to New York, where Rosow’s connections as a former NYPD cop come into play.
Harold has good reasons for not wanting to go to Gotham so it’s hard to believe he’d submit to Rosow’s intimidation.
It emerges that 9/11 has left indelible scars on both men: a legitimate dramatic device, some may think, although I find it troubling.
The film’s washed-out look evokes the mood if not spirit of classic Raymond Chandler movies but it’s missing something in its lapses in logic.
