# Missing (1982)

### reviewed by
Brian Koller

    Missing (1982)

    Grade: 56

"Missing" is a moving and credible film about a young American's disappearance during a 1973 coup in Chile, and the attempts of his wife and father to locate him... or his body. The viewer quickly realizes that the son almost certainly has been killed, and that the U.S. military is behind the coup. After that, the film becomes repetitive, and is interesting mostly for Lemmon's outraged performance.

There are many scenes of soldiers occupying the streets, shooting people arbitrarily. These scenes are like some science fiction films set in the future, with the resisting "humans" on the wrong side of alien search and destroy missions. However, this presentation of a third world nation's military coup is believable.

After the son's disappearance, his wife (Sissy Spacek) remains in Chile, at some risk to her life, to find him. She makes little progress with the disinterested American officials. The son's father (Jack Lemmon) arrives and also gets nowhere.

Lemmon, who considers his son to be a layabout radical, is the stereotype of a conservative, middle-aged American businessman. He has several generation gap arguments with Spacek, but gradually learns to respect her, and the son he never really knew. This respect may be due to his embracing their political philosphies, once it becomes apparent to him that the lying American officials were behind the coup and care little about the life of his 'troublemaking' son.

Lemmon is fine, and his confrontations with American officials are the best scenes of the film. A bureaucrat tells Lemmon, "there are no such [covert military] operations", with a prominent portrait of Nixon in the background. Spacek is also good, although her character isn't as defined as it should be.

One problem I had with "Missing" is that Lemmon, the young Americans and reporters caught in the coup are all innocent and have perfect integrity, which is contrasted against the contemptible American officials and military personnel. Sometimes the action of the latter aren't credible, such as a U.S. military officer attempting to seduce Spacek, or officials presenting a bill for $973 to Lemmon.

kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html

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